The wear of enamel opposing shaded ceramic restorative materials: an in vitro study.

The wear rate of intact human enamel opposed by Olympia porcelain gold, Dicor, Ceramco porcelain, and externally shaded Dicor and Ceramco was investigated with an artificial oral environment. The enamel-material couples were subjected to 300,000 masticatory cycles at a maximal occlusal force of 13.4 N while they were continuously bathed with 37 degrees C deionized water. Both the enamel and material surfaces were analyzed by use of a three-dimensional surface monitoring computer program, AnSur, to record the removal of the material and the maximal loss of vertical height. The enamel opposing the externally shaded materials abraded two to five times more than that opposing the unshaded materials and 10 to 15 times more than enamel opposing gold. The wear rates for enamel opposing the gold and unshaded Dicor were similar both in the removal of material and in the loss in vertical height.