Effects of different prophylaxis pastes on surface roughness of enamel surface

Purpose : the aim of this study was to compare the effect of a new prophylaxis paste with amorphous calcium phosphate (enamel pro), with pumice paste and a prophylaxis paste with fluoride (topex) on the surface roughness of enamel surface. materials and method: 65 caries-free molars were randomly divided into five groups. a single operator polished each specimen for 15 seconds with each paste: pumice paste, topex and enamel pro with either coarse, medium, or fine pumice. pre and post-treatment surface evaluation was completed using a surface profilometer in 60 samples. one sample from each group was coated with gold and examined in scanning electron microscope (sem). the results were statistically analyzed with one-way anova, tukey’s test and paired-samples t-test. results: the statistical analysis showed significant differences between surface roughness values of treated and non-treated surfaces in pumice, topex ve enamel pro fine paste groups (p<0.05). topex, enamel pro fine, medium and coarse pastes led smoother surfaces than the pumice paste. but, the difference between the groups was not statistically significant (p>0.05). conclusion: based on profilometric and sem analysis, all of the enamel pro pastes produced similar roughness on enamel surfaces when compared with pumice and topex.