Surface roughness of conventional ceramic, heat-pressed glass and low fusion ceramic after finishing and polishing procedures

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the surface roughness of three ceramic syste- ms (Duceram LFC™, Vision Es- thetic™ and IPS d.SIGN™) after glazing, finishing and polishing procedures. The treatment stages were finishing with a diamond bur (2135 F) followed by silicone point and felt disc with diamond paste. Twenty samples for each ceramic system were obtained according to the manufacture’s instructions. Measurements were made in each sample using a profilometer (Mi- tutoyo) after each procedure of finishing and polishing. The re- sults showed that the best surface smoothness was obtained with the glazing procedure. The ceramic Vision Esthetic presented the best surface smoothness after finishing and polishing, with data statis- tically different from the others. The system IPS d.SIGN™ had a statistically superior superficial smoothness in comparison to Du- ceram LFC™. The use of diamond bur (2135 F) produced several modifications in the surface rou- ghness of the ceramics and it was statistically different from all the other treatments, independently on the system. Key words: ceramic, polishing, rou- ghness, dental material.