Influence of storage regime prior to abrasion on surface topography of restorative materials

This investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of storage conditions prior to brushing simulation on surface texture of restorative materials. One resin‐modified glass ionomer (Fuji II LC Improved/GC Corp.), one polyacid‐modified composite resin (Dyract AP/Denstply), one microfill composite (Durafill VS/Kulzer), and one hybrid (Filtek–Z250/3M) composite were tested. Forty‐five standardized cylindrical specimens of each material were made and randomly divided into three groups according to their subsequent storage conditions: distilled deionized water, artificial saliva, or pH‐cycling regime. After 24 h, the experimental units were finished and polished and the surface roughness was measured to obtain Ra baseline values (Bv). Samples were subjected to their assigned storage regime and brushed afterwards. By the end of 10 repetitions of this protocol, final surface roughness readings (Fv) were taken. The analysis of covariance (α = 0.05), considering the covariate Bv showed a significant interaction between restorative material and storage condition (pvalue = 0.0002). Tukey's test revealed that the pH‐cycling model provided a significantly lower surface roughness for Fuji II LC and Dyract AP than did the other media. For both composites no significant difference among storage regimes was detected. Under a condition simulating dynamic variation in pH prior to abrasion, the resultant surface texture may be either smoothed down or unchanged, depending on the restorative material, when compared to the effect provided by artificial saliva and distilled deionized water. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 65B: 227–232, 2003