Tribological behaviour of dental diamond burs after different exploitation times

ABSTRACT The purpose of this investigation was to compare the wear of diamond-coated dental burs applied on specimens made of four different materials used in dental prosthetics. Cutting was performed using a dental air turbine handpiece. Identical coarse-grit diamond burs were mounted on the handpiece and subjected to a 1.5 N load. Dental burs were divided into four groups according to the type of material on which the cutting was performed (leucite glass ceramic, zirconium oxide, CoCrMo alloy and polymethylmethacrylate). The wear of the dental burs was determined as the amount of their weight loss during different time intervals. After each time interval, all the burs were cleaned, weighed, and analysed by an SEM. The greatest bur weight loss was measured in the group of dental burs used to perform cutting on the ZrO2 specimen, while the smallest weight loss was measured in the group used on the polymethylmethacrylate specimen.