Comparative study on the impact-sliding wear behaviour of CAD/CAM resin-ceramic materials and tooth enamel

ObjectivesTo compare the impact-sliding wear of different CAD/CAM resin-ceramic materials and tooth enamel, and explore the corresponding wear damage mechanism.MethodsHuman tooth enamel (EN), Vita ENAMIC (Vita, VE), Lava Ultimate (3 M, LU), and GC CERASMART (GC, CS) were used in this study. The hardness, elastic modulus, and roughness values of the samples were measured. Further, impact-sliding wear tests were performed in a ball-on-flat configuration with spherical zirconia antagonists and the coefficients of friction (CoF) were recorded simultaneously. Additionally, a white light interferometer was used to determine the volume losses and scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the wear morphology of the wear scars and the damage feature in the vertical sections to clarify the damage mechanism during the impact-sliding wear test.ResultsEN exhibited the highest elastic modulus and CoF, followed by VE, LU, and CS. The hardness and roughness of EN and VE were similar and were higher than those of LU and CS. Throughout the wear tests, VE exhibited the highest volume loss, whereas CS exhibited the lowest. The wear damage characteristics of VE were similar to those of EN, displaying brittle fractures of inorganic substances and plastic deformation of organic substances in the impact part, exhibiting plough marks in the sliding parts. In the case of LU and CS, the entire wear areas displayed plastic deformation of the resin matrix, exfoliation of the filler particles, and plough marks.SignificanceEnamel and polymer-infiltrated ceramic network materials exhibit similar wear damage modes. Additionally, the high-density nanocomposite resin material is the most resistant to impact-sliding wear from a tribological perspective.