Grey Relational Analysis of Microcapsule- and Nanoalumina-Reinforced Dental Composite Based on Mechanical and Wear Performance

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to prepare the dental composites by adding different wt% (0–9) of silanized microcapsules and nanoalumina. Then, the developed composites were investigated for mechanical and wear performance under artificial saliva medium. The fabricated composites were tested for their mechanical properties such as hardness and compressive strength. Two body wear tests were performed in the artificial saliva medium using dental wear simulator machine. The wear experiments were performed as per steady state condition by varying parameters such as normal load, sliding speed and working temperature. To study the wear mechanism, the morphology of worn surfaces was studied using scanning electron microscopy. Finally, grey relational analysis was applied to find the best formulation based on the mechanical and wear attributes. The finding of results indicated that apart from the self-healing property, microcapsule-reinforced dental composite has shown comparable mechanical and wear properties with respect to nanoalumina-reinforced dental composite. The hardness of 9 wt% microcapsule-reinforced dental composite was 8.33% less than the hardness of nanoalumina-reinforced dental composite. The wear rate of 9 wt% nanoalumina-reinforced dental composite in artificial saliva was 5.17% less than the wear rate of microcapsule-reinforced dental composite under similar working condition.