7 - Mixed-methods approach to wear evaluation in posterior composite dental restorations

Abstract

Publisher Summary In vivo and in vitro wear evaluations of composites should be carried out in parallel in a single study, with a view to correlating the technical excellence of novel posterior composites and their clinical wear behaviour. Intraoral wear tribology of dental composites is a cumulative effect of abrasion, erosion and bio-tribocorrosion where the effects of patient factors on the material wear are critical. Clinical tools in qualitative in vivo wear studies do not quantify wear, but rather try to identify contributory patient factors. A more sophisticated approach is the application of quantitative in vivo wear studies to report the link between the material properties and wear magnitude. Unfortunately, qualitative and quantitative approaches are seldom combined and their respective strengths are ignored across traditional methodological boundaries. This trend is probably because researchers are often taught to master only one type of method and so become comfortable with their expertise in handling either qualitative or quantitative analysis, but not both. This chapter discusses the methodological basis of qualitative and quantitative approaches to wear research in posterior composite restorations, assesses and addresses specific points of critique of both approaches and argues the case for combining both to maximise analytical leverage and presents a case study to describe how both approaches can complement rather than compete with each other.