Effects of polishing on surface roughness and gloss of S-PRG filled flowable resin composite.

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of polishing on surface roughness (Ra, μm) and gloss of different shades of a surface pre-reacted glass-ionomer (S-PRG) filled flowable resin composite. Methods: Resin disks of 15 mm diameter and 2 mm thickness and final polish with 3000-grit SiC paper (#3000), super fine cut diamond point (FG) and Super-Snap mini-disk red (SNAP) were made with Beautifil Flow Plus (shades: A2, A2O, Inc). The surface roughness and gloss were measured 1-week after curing. Data was analyzed with ANOVA and Fisher’s PLSD with α=0.05. Results: The order of Ra differed among the composite shades. For all shades in all polishing groups, the Ra was over 0.5 μm. For all shades, the gloss of the #3000 group was significantly higher than that of the FG and SNAP groups with no significant difference between the FG and SNAP groups except for the A2O shade. For A2O shade, the gloss of the SNAP group was significantly higher than that of the FG group. (Am J Dent 2012;25:227-230). CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The roughness values of Beautifil Flow Plus polished with SNAP were higher than that for previously reported conventional composite Beautifil II, possibly with a higher threshold for bacterial adhesion. Not only the particle size but also the shape of the polishers should be considered when polishing flowable composites. : Dr. Yumiko Hosoya, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Unit of Translational Medicine, Course of Medical and Dental Science, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-7-1, Nagasaki 852-8588, Japan. E: hosoya@nagasaki-u.ac.jp