Reciprocating wear test of dental composites: effect on the antagonist

Resin composites were first introduced as anterior restorative materials, but are more and more used in posterior teeth, as amalgam replacements. Nowadays the so-called ‘condensable’ composites are frequently used in posterior teeth. These materials are subjected to high values of contact and mastigatory loads, loading rates and sliding distances. In such contact conditions, wear is the major failure mode of dental composites. Wear of dental composites includes such diverse phenomena as adhesion, abrasion and fatigue. These mechanisms may o