An evaluation of polishing agents for composite resins.

After the gross reduction and fine finishing of a composite resin restoration, selecting a system to create the smoothest polish is difficult because high magnification is necessary to compare the surface roughness. The surfaces of four anterior and posterior composite resins were compared using a Mylar strip, an unfilled resin as a glaze, polishing with three rubber polishers, and three different manufacturers' series of disks. This study suggested that pairing a specific composite resin with a matching polishing system produced the smoothest surface. Because of the differences in the size, shape, number of filler particles, and the type of resin, one system was incapable of creating the smoothest surface for all composite resins.