High-density beta-calcium orthophosphate (beta-Ca-3(PO4)(2), also called beta-tricalcium phosphate: beta-TCP) ceramics with submicrometer-sized grains were fabricated using a pulse-current pressure firing route. The maximum relative density of the beta-TCP compacts was 98.7% at 1050 degrees C and this was accompanied by a translucent appearance. The mean grain size of the beta-TCP compacts increased slightly with temperature to reach 0.78 mu m at 1000 degrees C. However, upon further increasing the firing temperature to 1050 degrees C the mean grain size increased significantly to 1.6 mu m. The extent of plastic deformation during tensile testing was examined at temperatures between 900 and 1100 degrees C using a strain rate in the range 9.26 x 10(-5) to 4.44 x 10(-4) s(-1). The maximum tensile strain achieved was 145% for a test temperature of 1000 degrees C and strain rate of 1.48 x 10(-4) s(-1) and this was attributed to the relatively high density and small grain size.