THE TOPOGRAPHY OF ROOT ENDS RESECTED WITH FISSURE BURS AND REFINED WITH 2 TYPES OF FINISHING BURS

Objectives. This study compared the surface topography of roots resect ed with #57, Lindeman, and Multi-purpose burs. Further comparisons wer e made after refinements with either a multifluted carbide or an ultra fine diamond finishing bur. Study Design. Three groups of single-roote d human teeth were resected with each resection bur, and resin replica s of the root ends were made. Root ends from each resection bur group were finished with either a multifluted carbide or an ultrafine diamon d finishing bur, and the root ends were replicated. All replicas were evaluated at a magnification of x20 for smoothness and surface irregul arities. Data analysis was done with the Wilcoxon signed rank rest and the chi-square test at a significance level of p < 0.05. Results. The Multi-purpose bur produced a smoother and more uniplanar surface than the #57 bur and caused less damage to the root than either the #57 or the Lindeman bur. The multifluted carbide finishing bur tended to imp rove the smoothness of the root end, while the ultrafine diamond tende d to roughen the surface. Conclusions. The Multi-purpose bur produced the smoothest and most uniplanar resected root-end surface with the le ast root shattering. The multifluted carbide finishing bur produced a smoother surface than the ultrafine diamond bur.