Wear of feldspathic ceramic, nano-filled composite resin and acrylic resin artificial teeth when opposed to different antagonists

The aim of this study was to evaluate the wear of denture teeth and their antagonists produced by two-body and three-body wear tests. Three types of denture teeth, namely feldspathic ceramic (FC), nano-filled composite resin (NCR), and experimental acrylic resin teeth (AR), were tested. For each type two groups of eight upper premolars each were prepared. The first group was tested against cusps from the same material and the second group was tested against human enamel cusps. Each group was loaded with a total of 200,000 chewing cycles (two-body wear 100,000 cycles and three-body wear 100,000 cycles). Wear was analyzed by measuring the maximum depth and volume loss of the denture teeth using a laser scanner and by measuring the vertical loss of the antagonists using an optical macroscope. Statistically, there was no significant difference between the following combinations: FC-FC and NCR-NCR regarding the vertical and volume loss; and FC-enamel and NCR-enamel regarding the total vertical substance loss. The combinations AR-AR and AR-enamel showed higher wear values than the other combinations. For complete dentures, composite resin and ceramic teeth showed similar vertical and volume loss, whereas composite resin teeth seemed to be more suitable for partial dentures opposing natural teeth in terms of wear of teeth and antagonists.