Three-body abrasive wear of composite restoratives

This investigation studied the three-body abrasive wear resistance and wear patterns of five composite restoratives. The possible relation between thr ee-body wear and surface hardness was also investigated. A three-body wear instrumentation was used to investigate the wear resistance of five composi te restoratives [Silux Plus (SX), Z100 (20), Ariston pHc (AR), Surefil (SF) and Tetric Ceram (TC)]. An amalgam alloy [Dispersalloy (DA)] was used as c ontrol. The amalgam alloy (DA) had the lowest three-body wear (0.3+/-0.27 m um) and the highest surface hardness (KHN 131.5+/-27.87). TC had the most w ear (2.14+/-0.58 mum) and SX was the softest restorative (KHN 34.04+/-2.73) . Ranking was as follows: Wear resistance-DA>ZO>SF>AR>SX>TC; Hardness-DA>SF >ZO>TC>AR>SX With the exception of ZO, DA was significantly more wear resis tant than all the composites evaluated. ZO was significantly more wear resi stant than SX and TC. DA was significant;ly harder than all the composites evaluated. SF was significantly harder than AR and SX For the composite res toratives, correlation between hardness and wear was significant, with a co rrelation coefficient of r=-0.45. A significant negative but weak correlati on exists between hardness and three-body wear of composite restoratives.