Effect of Tooth Brushing Cycles and Dentifrice Fluoride Concentration on a Glazed CAD/CAM Ceramic.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of tooth brushing and dentifrice fluoride (F-) concentration on changes in color and translucency (ΔE00 and ΔT00, respectively), surface gloss (GS), surface roughness (Sa), and microstructure of a glazed CAD/CAM ceramic.

Materials and methods: Ceramic blocks (e.max/CAD) were sectioned into rectangular plates (14 x 12 x 1 mm), and one surface of each sample was glazed. Samples were divided into three groups according to the F- concentration in the dentifrice (0, 1,100, and 5,000 μg/g) and were then subjected to 60,000 tooth brushing cycles. Luminosity and color were measured using a spectrophotometer at baseline and after every 20,000 cycles to obtain their ΔE00 and ΔT00 values. Another set of samples was prepared to measure the GS with a gloss meter and the Sa with a confocal laser microscope. The GS and Sa results were subjected to analysis of variance, Tukey test, and Dunnett test (α = .05).

Results: After 60,000 tooth brushing cycles, all of the variables were clinically acceptable, and there were no significant differences in the ΔE00, ΔT00, GS, or Sa among the fluoridated dentifrices. The GS values decreased significantly as the number of tooth brushing cycles increased.

Conclusion: The ΔE00, ΔT00, GS, and Sa values were all clinically acceptable after the glazed e.max/CAD ceramic had been subjected to 60,000 tooth brushing cycles with dentifrices containing up to 5,000 μg/g of F-.