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Resistance to 3-Body Wear

3-Body Wear is an Important Risk

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In a ceramic/ceramic (BIOLOX®forte/BIOLOX®forte) Foreign particles such as pieces of bone cement, metal or cortical bone, can become trapped between the articulating surfaces for example the surfaces of the metal head and the polyethylene insert and can cause abrasion and wear. These foreign particles can become embedded in the softer material of the polyethylene and can act there like sandpaper. This is the so-called “sandpaper effect” which causes metal heads to become scratched. This roughening of the metal surface in turn causes further wear of the polyethylene insert. After wear of this sort the metal surfaces exhibit scratches of a variety of types, which are responsible for the abrasion and wear of both polyethylene and metal inserts.

Ceramics have a high resistance to 3-Body Wear

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In contrast ceramic surfaces, which are resistant to 3-body wear, are not scratched. Next to diamond, ceramic is the world’s hardest material and is therefore clearly more wear resistant than metal. This is why in ceramic/ceramic wear couples there is practically no wear. Foreign particles, which become trapped in a ceramic wear couple, are ground together without causing any damage to the ceramic. The joint fluid washes the residual material away. For this reason also ceramic implants are considered safer and more reliable than metal implants for wear couple use.