Wear behavior of light-cured dental composites filled with porous glass–ceramic particles

Wear resistance is still perceived to be one of the most important limiting factors in the long-term performance of dental restorations. Consequently, a range of different materials have been used as filler particles to reduce the rate of wear, particularly in posterior restorations. In this study, novel bioactive glass–ceramic powders exhibiting different nominal calcium–mica to fluorapatite ratios were used as fillers for light-cured dental composites. Wear tests on the resulting samples were undertaken using a micro-tribometer with a linear reciprocating ball-on-flat geometry using lubrication from artificial saliva. The surfaces of the worn composites were then evaluated using optical microscopy. In order to enhance matrix bonding, the surfaces of the different particulates were treated using hydrofluoric acid to provide a porous surface and the resulting surface morphology was evaluated using scanning electron microscopy. Although in the case of the samples containing low fluorapatite contents (20 wt%; A2), surface etching enhanced the wear resistance of the composite, etching reduced the wear resistance of materials containing 50 wt% fluorapatite (A5). The reduction in wear resistance was attributed to the friability of the A5 particles following surface treatment. This suggests that in order to optimize wear resistance, it is important to find a critical balance between surface roughness and porosity and the strength of individual particles.