FACTORS EFFECTING DENTAL COMPOSITE WEAR IN-VITRO

The wear of posterior dental composite restorations takes place throug h a complex combination of wear mechanisms. To isolate and measure the contribution of the different tribological phenomena in a controlled manner, an oral wear simulator was employed. Results previously report ed demonstrated the simulator's ability to form strong correlations wi th clinical results for both abrasion and attrition wear. These result s were generated with the device configured to mimic masticatory dynam ics, specifically employing a human enamel stylus, physiologic load le vels, and a foodlike slurry for a third body. In this study the slurry was replaced with water to examine the role of the third body in prod ucing abrasion. The third body was found to reduce wear for most mater ials. In a separate test the enamel stylus tip was replaced with steat ite, a semiporous ceramic with wear characteristics similar to enamel when opposing dental composite. The use of a steatite antagonist incre ased abrasion for the larger particle filled materials. The adhesive w ear mechanism was found to be a contributing factor in dental composit e wear. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.