Effect of material and configuration of antagonist on combined wear.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of antagonist material and configuration on combined wear, which was produced by alternating toothbrush wear and simulated occlusal wear on one specimen. Worn volume and maximum worn depth comparisons were done using two antagonist materials (steel and ceramic) and two antagonist configurations (flat and round). For the material factor, worn volume by the ceramic antagonist was greater than that by steel antagonist in the combined wear test. For the configuration factor, the round ceramic antagonist induced a greater volume loss of the resin composite. As for maximum worn depth, both the material and configuration of antagonist were influencing factors in the combined wear test--where the round ceramic antagonist induced a deeper wear of the resin composite. Based on the results of this study, we concluded that a round ceramic antagonist is suitable to be used for evaluating the wear behavior of resin composites.