Preparation of Zirconia-Based Dental Restorative Materials and Exploration on Their Wear Performances on Enamel/Dentine

A dental restorative material based on the zirconia matrix was designed for the analysis of friction and wear performances of enamel/dentine in vitro . First, the calcium phosphate powder was obtained by the sol–gel method. Then, three kinds of candidate composite ceramic restorative materials (4Zr6D, 5Zr5D, and 6Zr4D) were obtained by sintering at different mixing ratios with zirconia. The materials were analyzed by physical property characterization and compared with polymer porcelain, glass ceramics, and zirconia, thereby exploring the difference in wear performances of different dental restoration materials in enamel and dentine. In the tests and analyses of hardness, porosity, and density, zirconia-based restorative materials with a ratio of 5Zr5D showed better toughness and less mass loss. In the comparison of wear performances, zirconia-based composite restorative materials showed higher hardness (1575.66 ± 27.36 Hv). In the enamel and dentine wear tests, the greater the hardness was, the greater the mass loss was; however, the morphology of tooth cusp and tooth surface remained unchanged. The friction performance of polymer porcelain-based restorative material matched with that of the dentine and enamel; therefore, its mass loss was less; however, its surface morphology would change. The results showed that the application of zirconia-based restorative materials as dental restorative materials could achieve the higher hardness and ensure the stability of the enamel/dentine appearance.