Abstract:

Objective To investigate the influence of multiple sintering on wear behavior of Cercon veneering ceramic. Methods Samples were fabricated according to the manufacture′s requirement for different sintering times （1, 3, 5, 7 times）. The wear test was operated with a modified MM-200 friction and wear machine in vitro. The wear scars were characterized by scanning electron microscope（SEM） and atomic force microscopy（AFM）. Results With the sintering times increasing, the wear scar width became larger. The correlation was significant at the 0.01 level. Significant difference was observed in wear scar width among different samples（P<0.05）. SEM and AFM results showed that veneering ceramic wear facets demonstrated grooves characteristic of abrasive wear. Conclusion Multiple sintering can decrease the wear ability of Cercon veneer, and the wear pattern has the tendency to severe wear.

Key words: wear, veneering ceramic, sintering