Evaluation of Surface Roughness, Hardness, and Gloss of Composites After Three Different Finishing and Polishing Techniques: An In Vitro Study

Introduction The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of three different polishing systems on the microhardness, surface roughness, and gloss of resin composites. Materials and Methods The materials evaluated were 3M (TM) ESPE (TM) Filtek (TM) Z-350 XT (3M (TM), St. Paul, MN, USA), Grandio (Voco, Cuxhaven, Germany), 3M (TM) ESPE (TM) Filtek (TM) Z250 (3M (TM), St. Paul, MN, USA), Shofu-Beautifil Flow (Shofu, Kyoto, Japan), and RestoFill HV N-FLO (Anabond Stedman, Chennai, India). A total of 450 samples were fabricated. Three finishing and polishing systems: PoGo (R) (Dentsply Caulk, Milford, DE, USA), Sof-Lex Spiral, and Sof-Lex Pop-On (3M (TM), St Paul, MN, USA) were evaluated. Hardness, roughness, and gloss were evaluated after finishing and polishing. The surface roughness was measured with a surface profilometer, microhardness was measured with the Struers Duramin-5 microhardness tester (Struers A/S, Ballerup, Denmark) and gloss was measured using a gloss meter. The measurement values were analysed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Shapiro-Wilks test, and two-way ANOVA. Results The Sof-Lex Spiral group exhibited higher mean microhardness (p < 0.001), less surface roughness (p < 0.001), and higher gloss (p < 0.001). Filtek Z-250 exhibited higher mean microhardness (p < 0.001) than Grandio (p < 0.001) and Shofu Beautifil Flow (p < 0.001), and Filtek Z-350 XT exhibited more microhardness than Shofu Beautifil Flow (p < 0.001). Filtek Z-350 XT exhibited lower mean surface roughness than Filtek Z-250 (p < 0.05). Filtek Z-250 polished with Sof-Lex Spiral proved to have higher gloss (34.89 gloss units (GU)) than Grandio and RestoFill HV N-FLO (p < 0.05). Conclusions Hardest, smoothest, and glossiest surfaces were obtained with the Sof-Lex Spiral finishing/polishing system. The mean microhardness of Filtek Z-250 and Filtek Z-350 XT was found to be higher than other composites used in this study. Filtek Z-350 showed a lower mean surface roughness and Filtek Z-250 exhibited a higher mean gloss.