Abstract:

The laboratory variables under which an in vitro study is run can greatly influence the experimental results. For the in-vitro test to determine dental materials wear resistance numerous factors such as: force, contact time, wear mechanism implicated, sliding distance, surface rougness, antagonistic material and standardization, were reported to influence the experimental result. The purpose of the present paper is to emphasize the role of another factor- the height of rise and descent of the antagonist – a factor that is not mentioned when the setting of the chewing simulation device are discussed. The chewing simulator “Sofia” was used for the study. Two groups of specimens from a dental composite material were prepared following the protocol and tested under identical conditions with the only difference of different descending height – 0,1mm and 0,5mm respectively. Within the limits of our study a significant difference in the results was demonstrated thus proving the importance of the descending height as a factor influencing the in-vitro tests of dental material wear resistance.