Wear in dentistry--current terminology

There is some confusion in the dental literature concerning the phenomenon of wear which is usually considered in terms of its clinical manifestations rather than its underlying processes. The parent discipline for the study of these processes is tribology. The terms attrition, abrasion and erosion are common to both dentistry and tribology; however their meanings are different. Even within the various disciplines of dentistry there are differences in the understanding of the same terms. This article relates the dental appreciation of wear to the underlying processes.