Finishing and polishing procedures on surface roughness of flowable composites

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of two different polishing systems on surface roughness of four newly developed resin composites. METHODS: The materials included a microhybrid composite resin(Filtek Z250,3M,Espe, St. Paul, MN, USA) and three flowable composites (Admira Flow ,Voco,Germany, Dyract Flow, Dentsply, Konstanz, Germany, Filtek Flow, 3M/Espe, St. Paul, MN,USA) Eighteen specimens of each material were prepared and randomly divided into two finishing and polishing groups (n=9): (I)diamond bur/Sof-Lex Pop-on disks, (II)diamond bur/Astropol and Astrobrush system. Specimens in each group were finished with an extra fine finishing diamond bur and two polishing systems (Astropol-Astrobrush , Ivoclar Vivadent; Sof-lex Pop-on, 3M, ESPE, St. Paul, MN, USA). The average surface roughness (Ra) of the control and treated specimens were measured with a Mitutoyo Surftest-402 Surface Roughness Tester. Five tracings at different locations on each specimen were made. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, at p<0.05. Surface topography was also assessed using the Scanning Electron Microscope (S.E.M) from samples of each group. RESULTS: The results of this study indicated that the Mylar strip produced the smoothest surface in all restorative materials . Statistical analyses was demonstrated the difference among finishing and polishing procedures, first method performed significantly smoother surface than the second method for the four restoratives. CONCLUSION: Sof-Lex Pop-on discs produced smoother surface than Astropol and Astrobrush silicone polishers for microhybrid and flowable composites.