Effect of Whitening Dentifrices on the Surface Roughness of Commercial Composites

Purpose: Our study aimed to test the null hypothesis that whitening and non-whitening dentifrices affect similarly the surface roughness of commercial microhybrid composites, independent of the brushing time. Materials and Methods: One hundred and ninety-two disc-shaped specimens of Filtek Z250 (3 M/ESPE, St. Paul, MN, USA) and Rok (SDI, Australia) were built up and randomly assigned to 24 groups, based on the dentifrices used (two whitening dentifrices: Colgate Max White-Colgate-Palmolive, Sao Bernardo do Campo, Sao Paulo, Brazil and Close Up Extra Whitening-Unilever, Brasil Higiene Pessoal e Limpeza Ltda, Ipojuca, Pernambuco, Brazil; and one non-whitening dentifrice: Colgate Total 12 Clean Mint-Colgate-Palmolive), and on the simulated brushing times (24 hours, 6, 12 and 24 months). The specimens were submitted to the toothbrushing regimens after which the surface roughness (Ra) was measured. Data was submitted to analysis of variance and Tukey test (alpha = 0.05). Results: The composite's surface roughness was significantly affected by the composites (p = 0.0007), the dentifrices (p = 0.0001), and the simulated brushing time (p = 0.0001). Higher roughness was observed when the whitening dentifrices were used and when the brushing time increased. Filtek Z250 was more affected than Rok, especially after 24 months of simulated brushing. Conclusion: Whitening dentifrices produced higher surface roughness in the composites tested. The degree of surface compromising increased with brushing time and depends on the composite's microstructure and composition.