THE EFFECT OF 3 POLISHING SYSTEMS ON THE SURFACE-ROUGHNESS OF 4 HYBRID COMPOSITES - A PROFILOMETRIC AND SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY STUDY

A highly polished composite restoration is necessary to help promote a plaque-free environment. In this study the polishability of four hybr id composites (Pertac, APH, Herculite, and Z100) was compared after fi nishing and polishing with the Caulk Enhance polishing kit, Kerr compo site finishing kit, and the ESPE MFS/MPS polishing kit. Profilometric evaluation revealed that the MFS/MPS polishing system gave a superior polish for Z100, Herculite, and Pertac; the Enhance polishing system d emonstrated the poorest polish with all four composites tested. There were no significant differences among the four composites when polishe d with each of the three polishing systems.