Effect of different finishing techniques for restorative materials on surface roughness and bacterial adhesion

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

Regardless of finishing and polishing methods, fewer bacteria adhered to a ceramic material compared with two indirect and a direct composite resin material.

Main

Aykent F, Yondem I et al. J Prosthet Dent 2010; 103: 221–227

Using confocal microscopy, this study quantified the number of bacteria (Streptococcus mutans NCTC 10449) that adhered to blocks of different dental aesthetic materials following various finishing techniques. Significantly fewer bacteria adhered to the ceramic material (VITABLOCS Mark II), compared with two indirect and one direct composite resin. None of the finishing techniques were able to reduce the subsequent adherence of bacteria on the indirect and direct composite resin materials, to those numbers enumerated on the ceramic material. The investigators also looked for an association between surface roughness and bacterial adhesion. They found a positive correlation between 'surface roughness and vital bacterial adhesion'.