Abstract
Purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cleaning and polishing methods on primary enamel smooth surfaces.
Fifty-nine extracted or exfoliated caries free primary anterior teeth were used. The cleaning and polishing methods used in this study were; application of 10%NaOCL, polishing with a brush cone (Hawe-Neo-Dental Co. ) or a polishing brush (Sato Dental Material Co. ) at a low speed (600-6000 r. p. m. ), polishing with a brush cone and various polishing pastes, cleaning with an air polisher Prophy-Jet (Dentsply Co. ) or Quick-Jet (Dentscraft Co. ) with NaHCO3 powder and water. The polishing pastes used in this study were Neo-Polishing-Paste (Neo Dental Chemical Products Co. ), pumice slurry (Tokyo Dental College prescription), tooth paste (Lion Co. ) and CCS Prophy-Pastes (Inoue Marketing Co. ).
The following observations were obtained using the SEM.
1. Air polishing systems were useful for cleaning the enamel surface. In particular cleaning with a Prophy-Jet for one minute was the most effective.
2. The enamel surface, however, was abraded after cleaning with a Quick-Jet for 30 seconds. The Quick-Jet was inferior to the Prophy-Jet in cleaning efficacy and safety with respect to the enamel.
3. Among the polishing methods with a brush cone and the polishing pastes for 30 seconds, Prophy-Paste-Red and Prophy-Paste-Yellow were the most satisfactory in removal of organic films and enamel safety.
4. Many deep scratch marks were observed in the cases polished with a brush cone and pumice slurry. Pumice slurry should not be used for enamel surface polishing.
5. Since many scratch marks were observed in many cases polished with Neo-Polishing-Paste, Prophy-Paste-Blue and Prophy-Paste-Green, these polishing pastes are not suitable for the enamel surface polishing.
6. It was likely that materials such as organic films would remain on the enamel surface polished with a brush cone or polishing brush alone for 30 seconds or one minute.
7. The effect of 10% NaOCL application for 30 seconds was the lowest.
