Two-Body Wear And Surface Roughness of Three Different Ceramic Systems And Their Enamel Antagonist: An In Vitro Study

Abstract

Statement of the problem: Ceramics and glass-ceramics are materials of choice for dental crowns due to their attractive hardness, biocompatibility, etc. However, a major problem with their usage is the observed high wear of either the opposing dental enamel or both the enamel and ceramic itself. Objective: The present study aimed at ranking and comparing the wear performance of three different ceramic systems (monolithic zirconia, lithium disilicate glass ceramic and feldspathic porcelain) and their effect on the wear and surface roughness of their antagonist enamel. Materials and methods: Five cylindrical discs (n=5) were constructed from each of: BruxZir zirconia, IPS e.max CAD lithium disilicate based ceramic and feldspathic porcelain representing (N=15). Ceramic samples were polished till obtaining convergent surface roughness values of the three materials. Enamel antagonists were prepared as sectioned buccal cusps of maxillary first premolars (N=15). Baseline surface roughness and weight values were obtained using optical surface profiler and sensitive balance, respectively, for all samples (ceramic discs and their antagonist cusps) prior to subjecting the samples to chewing simulation procedure test including the application of 5kg (49N) load for 120,000 cycle with vertical movement 1mm, horizontal movement 3mm and frequency 1.6Hz.