Abstract
The wear of behaviour of dental composites, consisting of glass particles in a PMMA-matrix, is investigated under dry sliding conditions against a smooth hardened steel surface. Wear mechanisms were identified, such as plowing and patch formation; their individual contribution to the total wear of the composite is a function of particle size, filler content and filler/matrix adhesion. In addition, the inter-particle-distance determines the transition from one dominating mechanism to the other.