Surface Roughness of Amalgam Fillings Made by Various Technics

¹ School of Dentistry, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Roughness of amalgam surfaces that had been made under various conditions was compared by using a surface analyzer and a direct microscopic measurement of profile sections. The roughness values read by the surface analyzer were generally lower than those directly read on the profile sections under a microscope, but they varied in parallel inclination. Carved surfaces of amalgam had a high degree of roughness, which was reduced to one fourth to one sixth by finishing and further to one eighth to one thirteenth by polishing. Surfaces burnished immediately after insertion were smoother than finished surfaces of carved amalgam. Surfaces allowed to set against stainless steel matrixes were as smooth as finished surfaces of carved amalgam. Polishing matrix surfaces immediately before use, however, slightly roughened resultant amalgam surfaces.