A correlation between abrasion resistance and other properties of some acrylic resins used in dentistry.

This investigation studies the relationship of hardness, elastic modulus and scratch width as dependent variables to the abrasion resistance of twenty-three dental acrylic resins. The multiple correlation R, when all three variables are used as predictors, is 0.727. Because of the significant intercorrelations between the variables themselves a stepwise multiple regression analysis showed hardness as a redundant variable. Abrasive wear can be estimated from the following equation Abrasive wear = 806.1 - 0.1498 modulus + 0.681 scratch width (R = 0.725; standard deviation of estimate +/- 50.8) The deletion of scratch width does not appreciably reduce the standard deviation of the estimate: Abrasive wear = 1063.4 - 0.2055 modulus (r = 0.683; standard deviation of estimate +/- 50.3) The method of curing the specimens conformed to the respective manufacturers' instructions. Abrasion and scratch tests were performed using methods developed by the authors and previously described in the literature, whereas the hardness and elastic modulus results were devised from standard test procedures. Further research is currently in progress to improve the predictive power of abrasion resistance with additional new variables.