title: The effect of polishing on surface roughness of tissue conditioners.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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).
  
  
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3J5, Canada. rloney@is.dal.ca
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Loney
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003764:Dental Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D003775:Dental Polishing / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D003822:Denture Liners; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D008689:Methacrylates / Q000737:chemistry; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties; D014016:Tissue Conditioning, Dental / Q000295:instrumentation
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D003764:Dental Materials; D005782:Gels; D008689:Methacrylates; D010795:Phthalic Acids; C069457:Coe-Soft denture lining material; C043685:Coe Comfort