Surface roughness and morphology of dental nanocomposites polished by four different procedures evaluated by a multifractal approach

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine the effect of different dental polishing methods on surface texture parameters of dental nanocomposites. The 3-D surface morphology was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and multifractal analysis. Two representative dental resin-based nanocomposites were investigated: a nanofilled and a nanohybrid composite. The samples were polished by two dental polishing protocols using multi-step and one-step system. Both protocols were then followed by diamond paste polishing. The 3-D surface roughness of samples was studied by AFM on square areas of topography on the 80 × 80 μm2 scanning area. The multifractal spectrum theory based on computational algorithms was applied for AFM data and multifractal spectra were calculated. The generalized dimension Dq and the singularity spectrum f(α) provided quantitative values that characterize the local scale properties of dental nanocomposites polished by four different dental polishing protocols at nanometer scale. The results showed that the larger the spectrum width Δα (Δα = αmax − αmin) of the multifractal spectra f(α), the more non-uniform was the surface morphology. Also, the 3-D surface topography was described by statistical parameters, according to ISO 25178-2:2012. The 3-D surface of samples had a multifractal nature. Nanofilled composite had lower values of height parameters than nanohybrid composites, due to its composition. Multi-step polishing protocol created a better finished surface, for both tested materials, than one-step polishing protocol, even when it was followed by diamond paste polishing. Diamond paste polishing created smooth surface and reduced roughness of tested materials.