[Study of wear of restorative materials and teeth-antagonists in vitro]

Since clinical evaluation of wear turns out to be particularly time consuming, a standardized method was developed to model oral mastication. So-called artificial mouth was used to assess the extent of wear caused from different restorative materials in contact with bovine enamel. Ball heads manufactured from modern veneering ceramics, gold alloy, amalgam and resin composite materials were loaded with a contact load of 50 N for 200,000 chewing cycles. Additional thermo-cycling (5 degrees /55 degrees C) for 2,500 cycles was conducted in the artificial mouth. The worn surfaces, both on the material specimens and on the antagonist bovine enamel surfaces were volumetrically scanned under a laser microscope. Negligible wear rates were observed for the veneering ceramics and for the gold alloy. Most veneering ceramics as well as the resin composite materials caused low wear on the antagonist enamel surfaces. In contrast, the antagonist enamel was significantly damaged in contact with amalgam or some of the ceramic materials. However, modern veneering ceramics as well as gold alloys might be recommended in occlusally loaded contact with the antagonist enamel, whereas resin composite materials might be indicated for non load-bearing areas. Ceramics are contraindicated in case of bruxism.