Wear rates of artificial denture teeth opposed by natural dentition.

The wear rate of polymeric or composite-based artificial denture teeth on fixed, removable and implant prostheses is important in the maintenance of cuspal form, masticatory efficiency and occlusal stability. A servo-hydraulic based artificial mouth in which an occlusion was established between artificial denture teeth, and the palatal cusp of a human maxillary third molar was established and used to assess the wear resistance of 5 artificial denture tooth materials. Volumetric wear was determined for Dentsply Trublend SLM, Dentsply IPN, Vita Vitapan, Ivoclar Orthotyp and Ivoclar Orthosit denture teeth. Scanning electron microscopy was also done to assess the textural character of the wear facets of each denture tooth sample. The lowest volume loss was observed for Trublend SLM followed by IPN, Orthotyp, Vitapan and Orthosit. Textural assessment of the materials was consistent with the objective wear data.