Topography and surface roughness of fluid resins used as bioprotectors of mini-implants

Abstract

Objective

The focus of this study was to test the hypothesis that there is difference between the surface roughness and topography of flow resins used as bioprotective materials of orthodontic mini-implants. Thirty test specimens (5 mm×3 mm) of flow resins were used, divided into 3 groups (n=10): Group W (Wave), Group TC (Top Comfort) and Group F (Filtek Z350 XT). Topographic analysis was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and surface roughness measurement by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). One-way analysis of variance ANOVA followed by the Tukey post hoc test were used for statistical evaluation (p<.05). By SEM, Group W presented a surface that was not very homogeneous with inorganic particles of up to 5 [mu]m; in a similar manner and with a larger number of particles, Group TC was shown to have particles close to 3 [mu]m in size. Whereas, Group F presented a more homogeneous and regular surface with few inorganic particles of 1 [mu]m. AFM demonstrated that there was a significantly higher degree of surface roughness in Group W, which showed statistically significant difference from Group F (p=.007), and no significant difference between Group TC and the other groups (p>.05). The hypothesis was partially accepted; it could be affirmed that the flow resin Filtek Z350 presented a lower degree of surface roughness, and had smaller and more uniformly distributed inorganic particles when compared with the Wave and Top Comfort resins.