Occlusal wear simulation with the ACTA wear machine.

This paper describes how the clinical conditions in stress bearing areas are thought to be simulated in the ACTA wear machine. The wear types simulated are erosive wear and contact sliding wear in the presence of a third-body medium, consisting of natural food substances. Wear due to surface fatigue may also be studied with the wear machine. Wear rates for a wide range of resin composites, an amalgam and a glass polyalkenoate (ionomer) cement obtained with the ACTA wear machine correlated with an average correlation coefficient of 0.90 with data collected from clinical trials. The results justify the experimental set-up as being one that includes a realistic simulation of the complexity of clinical wear.