Comparison of 3 polishing techniques for 2 all-ceramic materials.

The aim of this study was to compare the surface roughness produced by polishing 2 all-ceramic materials after surface conditioning. Air particle abrasion (APA) with 25-microm aluminum oxide, 9.6% hydrofluoric acid (HFA,) and APA + HFA were applied for ceramic surface conditioning. Subsequently, the ceramics were subjected to 3 polishing techniques: polishing kit, polishing paste, and polishing kit + polishing paste. Surface roughness (Ra) was evaluated profilometrically. The highest deltaRa values were obtained with the polishing kit and polishing kit + paste for the APA + HFA groups. No significant differences were observed among the polishing paste groups. Combining a polishing kit and polishing paste produced the smoothest ceramic surfaces.