Wear resistance of 3D printed occlusal device materials.

Statement of problem: Three-dimensional (3D) printing offers an efficient method of producing occlusal devices; however, their wear resistance is poorly understood.

Purpose: The purpose of this in vitro study was to compare the wear resistance of flexible and rigid 3D printed occlusal device materials with milled and conventionally processed occlusal device materials.

Material and methods: Blocks (n=8) of 3 flexible 3D printed materials (KeySplint Soft, NightGuard Flex 2, SmileGuard), 2 rigid 3D printed materials (KeySplint Hard, NightGuard Firm 2), 1 milled material (Ceramill A-Splint), 1 thermoform material (Erkoloc-Pro), 1 light-polymerized material (Eclipse Prosthetic Resin), 1 heat-polymerized material (Excel Formula Heat Cure Denture Base Material), and 1 autopolymerized material (Great Lakes Splint Resin Acrylic) were prepared and wet polished with 1200-grit SiC paper. The specimens were placed in a modified Alabama wear testing device with spherical zirconia antagonists. The devices applied a 20-N load and 2-mm horizontal slide for 400 000 cycles, and the test was run in a 33% glycerin solution. Following the wear test, the volumetric wear was measured with an optical profilometer. The Vickers microhardness of the materials was also measured (n=3). Volumetric wear and microhardness were compared with 1-way ANOVAs and Tukey post hoc analyses (α=.05).

Results: Significant differences were found between the wear of the different occlusal device materials (P<.001). The rigid 3D printed materials experienced similar wear as the light-polymerized, heat-polymerized, and milled occlusal device materials. The autopolymerized and thermoformed occlusal device material experienced significantly more wear (P<.05). The flexible 3D printed materials had the significantly greatest wear (P<.05). A statistically significant, strong negative correlation between hardness and volumetric wear was found (r=-.93; P<.001).

Conclusions: Rigid 3D printed occlusal device materials exhibit a high degree of wear resistance; however, flexible 3D printed occlusal device materials exhibit relatively low wear resistance.