Purpose: To determine the changes in surface gloss of different composite materials after laboratory toothbrushing simulation.
Methods: 36 specimens were fabricated for each material and polished with 120-, 220-, 500-, 1200-, 2400- and 4000-grit SiC abrasive paper, respectively. Gloss measurements were made with a glossmeter (Novocurve) prior to testing procedures and then subjected to simulated toothbrushing for 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes by means of an electric toothbrush with a pressure of 2N while being immersed in a 50 RDA toothpaste slurry. Four supplementary samples per group were analyzed under SEM immediately after polishing procedures and four samples after 60 minutes simulated toothbrushing in order to evaluate the causes of the gloss decrease. The tested resin composite materials were Filtek Supreme XTE, Durafill, HRi Enamel Plus, Miris 2, Empress Direct, Venus Diamond, Gradia Direct, Clearfil Photo Posterior and G-aenial. Natural enamel represented the control group. Statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal Wallis and Tukey post-hoc test, with a level of significance set at 0.05.
Results: Resin composite initial gloss values ranged from 68.9 to 100.5 at baseline to 10.6 to 62.6 after 1 hour of brushing. Highest gloss values were obtained by Filtek Supreme XTE, followed by Empress Direct and Durafill. Lowest values were obtained by Clearfil Photoposterior, Miris 2, Enamel HRi and Venus Diamond. Natural enamel was the only substrate to maintain its gloss throughout the brushing procedure (110.4 after 60 minutes). SEM analysis revealed different patterns of surface degradation depending on the composite material.