Surface roughness of acrylic resins processed by microwave energy and polished by mechanical and chemical process

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of polymerization methods (microwave energy - MW, and water bath - WB) and polishing techniques (chemical - C and mechanical - M) on the surface roughness of one heat-polymerized acylic resin (Vipi-Cril). Forty acrylic resin disk-shaped samples were made according to ADA specification nº 12. Half of samples were processed by microwave energy (500W for 3 minutes), and the other half by water bath (74±1 ºC for 9 hours). After deflasking, the samples were trimmed with a sequence of abrasive aluminum oxide sandpapers of different grades (180, 220 and 400) and divided in 4 groups according to polymerization methods and polishing techniques G1 MW+CP, G2 MW+MP, G3 WB+CP and G4 WB+MP. Surface roughness values were measured using a Surfcorder SE 1700 rugosimeter (Kosaka Laboratory Ltd, Kosaka, Japan). Mann-Whitney test (p=.05) indicated significant differences between polishing methods processed by microwave energy (p= .0018), and between polishing methods processing by water bath (p= .0002). Samples processed by both methods (water bath or microwave energy) showed smoother surfaces when polished by mechanical polishing method, and polymerization methods did not influence in surface roughness.