Single-grain approach to material specific dental grinding-force equations

In restorative dentistry, the use of machinable ceramics for patient tooth restoration has become common practice. In fact, more than 15 million dental procedures are performed each year that require the grinding of tooth enamel and dentin. This results in the need for machinable ceramics to properly restore the structure of a patient's tooth. This research uses quasi-static nanoindentation and nanoscratching to establish a semi-analytical material-specific high-speed abrasive grinding-force model for dental applications. The model includes a single fitting parameter and introduces a recently developed ploughing friction model to determine ploughing friction coefficients, grain penetrations, and grain-material contact areas. Additionally, the model demonstrates how material properties, and characteristics affect abrasive grinding. Procedural grinding-forces and trends for different process parameters and workpiece material properties are predicted for selected dental ceramics.