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The effect of polishing on surface roughness of tissue conditioners
R W Loney1, R B Price, D G Murphy
1Department of Dental Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3J5, Canada. rloney@is.dal.ca
Purpose:
Surface roughness can affect microbial colonization of long-term denture liners, alloys, and denture acrylic. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of finishing and polishing procedures on surface roughness of 4 temporary resilient denture liners (tissue conditioners).
Materials And Methods:
Mean surface roughness was measured for 4 materials (Lynal, Visco-gel, Coe-Soft, and Functional Impression Tissue Toner [FITT]) finished in 4 ways: unfinished (control); polished; reduced, unpolished; and reduced, polished. Samples were allowed to polymerize at 37 degrees C for 24 hours, and the surface roughness was measured using a Mitutoyo Surftest 212.
Results:
Mean surface roughness ranged from 1.8 +/- 0.8 microns for polished Lynal to 7.8 +/- 1.1 microns for reduced, unpolished FITT. All polished samples were smoother than unpolished samples (including controls), whether or not the samples were reduced with a bur.
Conclusion:
Polished samples of tissue conditioning material had lower mean surface roughness measurements than control or reduced, unpolished samples at the 95% level of confidence. There was no difference in mean surface roughness measurements of control samples and unpolished samples reduced with a bur at the 95% level of confidence. Mean surface roughness differed significantly between the materials tested.