COPARISON OF SURFACE ROUGHNESS OF DENTAL CERAMICS BEFORE AND AFTER ACID MEDIUM EXPOSURE

Dental ceramics are considered to be chemically inert. However, influence of oral cavity could change its surface roughness. The aim of this study was to investigate the surface roughness before and after acid medium exposure of two different types of dental ceramics. The samples were made of feldspathic ceramic and glass- ceramic. The roughness of each sample was measured on three spots before and after exposure to 4 % solution of acetic acid. The results showed that only feldspathic ceramic had significant difference in surface roughness after acid exposure. The results in this study were very similar to those found in literature. The main reason for different reaction to acid medium is different microstructure of glass- and feldspathic ceramic. It could be concluded that glass-ceramic had better inertness to acid exposure and therefore it is more biocompatible then feldspathic ceramic.