Abrasive wear and surface roughness of contemporary dental composite resin

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the abrasive wear and surface roughness of 20 currently available commercial dental composite resins, including nanofilled, supra-nanofilled, nanohybrid and microhybrid composite resins. The volume loss, maximum vertical loss, surface roughness (R(a)) and surface morphology [Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)] were determined after wear. The inorganic filler content was determined by thermogravimetric analysis. The result showed that the volume loss and vertical loss varied among the materials. The coefficients of determination (R(2)) of wear volume loss and filler content (wt%) was 0.283. SEM micrographs revealed nanofilled composites displayed a relatively uniform wear surfaces with nanoclusters protrusion, while the performance of nanohybrid composites varied. The abrasive wear resistance of contemporary dental composite resins is material-dependent and cannot be deduced from its category, filler loading and composite matrix; The abrasive wear resistance of some flowable composites is comparable to the universal/posterior composite resins.