Effect of Finishing Systems on Surface Roughness and Gloss of Full-Body Bulk-Fill Resin Composites

Gaetano Paolone; Eugenio Moratti; Cecilia Goracci; Enrico Gherlone; Alessandro Vichi

doi:10.3390/ma13245657

Effect of Finishing Systems on Surface Roughness and Gloss of Full-Body Bulk-Fill Resin Composites

Materials (Basel). 2020 Dec 11;13(24):5657. doi: 10.3390/ma13245657.

Authors

Gaetano Paolone¹, Eugenio Moratti¹, Cecilia Goracci², Enrico Gherlone¹, Alessandro Vichi³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dentistry, IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital and Dental School, Vita Salute University, 20132 Milan, Italy.
² Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy.
³ Dental Academy, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 2QG, UK.

Abstract

Background: In this study, we assess the effect produced on roughness and gloss of full-body bulk-fill materials by different finishing and polishing systems.

Methods: Four full-body bulk-fill materials were tested: SonicFill2 (SF), Filtek Bulk Fill Posterior Restorative (FB), Tetric EvoCeram bulk-fill (EC), and Fill-Up! (FU). Sixty discs per material (2 mm in thickness and 7 mm in diameter) were obtained and randomly assigned (n = 15) to four finishing and polishing methods: Sof-Lex Spiral Wheels (SW), HiLusterPLUS (HL), Astropol (AP), and Opti1Step (OS). Surface roughness and gloss were then measured.

Results: For roughness, material and surface treatment were significant factors (p < 0.001) with SF = FB = EC < FU and AP < SW < HL = OS. Material and surface treatment had a significant effect also on gloss (p < 0.001), with SF > FB = EC > FU and SW > AP > HL > OS.

Conclusions: The tested combinations of bulk-fill and polishing systems provided clinically acceptable results with regard to roughness, while the outcome was poor for gloss. Multistep finishing/polishing systems were able to produce smoother surfaces on full-body bulk-fill materials compared to simplified ones.

Keywords: bulk-fill; finishing; gloss; polishing; roughness.