COMPARISON OF 2-BODY AND 3-BODY WEAR OF GLASS-IONOMERS AND COMPOSITES

The two-body and three-body wear of glass-ionomers (GIC), visible Ligh t cured glass-ionomers (VLC-GIC), and composites were compared, The we ar simulations were performed for the two-body wear in an artificial m outh and for the three-body wear with the so-called ACTA machine. The tested materials were different conventional glass-ionomers, light cur ed glass-ionomers, composites; and amalgam. The wear rates of 8 specim ens of each material for the two-body and 16 for the three-body wear t est were compared. After 10(5) cycles with each testing device, the we ar shapes were measured. All measurements were related to the wear rat e of amalgam. For the two-body wear method, the worn materials were qu alitatively judged by scanning electron microscopy. The two different wear testing methods lead to similar results with slight differences i n ranking. Amalgam showed the lowest wear rates with both methods. Pho tac(R) Fil, a newly developed VLC-GIC, showed dramatically lower wear resistance than composites and conventional GIC with both methods. Fur ther investigations are necessary to identify the material-specific pa rameters influencing the wear behaviour of a material in relation to d ifferent wear testing methods.