Generalized Wear Simulation of Resin Composites

A new model was recently developed for simulation of generalized or contact free area wear. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine and compare generalized wear simulation of resin composites. Methods: Ten specimens each of five resin composites, Esthet-X (EX), Filtek Supreme Plus (SP), Tetric EvoCeram (TC), Z100 (Z1) and Z250 (Z2), were subjected to 100,000, 400,000, 800,000 and 1,200,000 cycles in a Leinfelder-Suzuki wear simulator (maximum load of 80N). Flat stainless steel antagonists were used against flat ground (4000 grit) resin composite specimens in custom stainless steel fixtures in a water slurry of PMMA beads. Before the wear challenges and after each cycling period, the specimens were profiled with a Proscan 2000 non-contact profilometer and wear was determined using ProForm and Proscan software. A two-way ANOVA [factors: 1) resin composite material and 2) number of cycles] and Tukey's post hoc test were used for data analysis. Results:

The ANOVA showed a significant effect (p=0.000) for the individual factors of material and cycles, and for the interaction of material and cycles.  Significant differences were found among the five resin composites tested for both facet depth and volume loss (Tables 1 and 2). Conclusion: The new model for generalized wear simulation appears to be an effective method for measuring relative wear of resin composite materials.