Polishing systems for dental ceramics.

The increasing use of ceramic crowns and inlays in posterior teeth has highlighted the clinical difficulties involved in achieving a good surface finish after corrective grinding. In the present work several polishing systems and techniques were compared, initially using only one dental ceramic, Vita Mark I. The two systems that produced the best results were then further used for the polishing of several different dental ceramics, mainly newer types. The initial surface roughness and the surface condition attained after various polishing stages were evaluated by using a surface roughness analyzer. In the initial test series the SofLex system and the Shofu Porcelain Laminate Polishing Kit produced the best results; they were therefore chosen for the second part of the investigation. In this the two polishing systems concerned produced a satisfactory surface finish in a clinically acceptable time for all the ceramics tested. The use of a diamond-containing polishing past did not improve the surface smoothness obtained with the SofLex system but gave a more varied result for the Shofu system.