Toward the mechanisms of surface texturing on the wear behavior of dental zirconia ceramics under dry and saliva lubricated conditions

Abstract The current work aims to investigate the effectiveness of surface textures on improving the wear performance of 3Y-TZP zirconia restorations and the operating mechanisms of surface texture under different lubrication conditions and with different counter bodies. A series of sliding wear tests against Si3N4 ceramics and 304 stainless steel were conducted under both the dry and artificial saliva lubricated conditions to quantify the effectiveness of the surface textures in terms of the friction coefficient, wear volume loss and wear morphologies. The results indicate that the surface textures have a significant effect on the friction and wear properties of 3Y-TZP zirconia ceramics. The operating mechanism of surface textures for the ceramics-ceramics pair is to decrease the actual contact area and act as a pocket for storing lubricants. While for the ceramics-steel pair, the wettability becomes a dominating factor. A hydrophilic surface is conducive to forming a liquid film on the ceramic surface, resulting in a better lubrication state between the friction components.