Evaluating the antagonistic wear of restorative materials when placed against human enamel.

Several clinical and laboratory studies have reported data on the nature of tooth wear against restorative materials (that is, amalgam, gold, glass ceramic and various composite resin systems). Several antagonistic substrates are known to cause various in vitro wear rates when placed in opposition to enamel. In this study, the authors evaluated 10 commercially available posterior composite resin systems and a gold alloy control. The findings showed that posterior composite resins containing zirconium silicate or quartz fillers caused greater antagonistic enamel wear than did microfilled or barium silicate-filled composite resins.