Comparison of root surface roughness resulting from the two conventional root-planing procedures applied on human teeth: an in-vitro AFM study

Abstract

Purpose: Any instrumentation on the root surface for calculus removal will cause some amount
of roughness on the surface. Hence this in-vitro AFM study was proposed to investigate the
effect of root planing on the human tooth root using the two conventional methods i.e. root
planing using hand instruments and ultrasonic root planing tips.
Materials and Methods: Twenty tooth samples were prepared from extracted maxillary first
pre-molars and were divided randomly into two groups of 10 samples each. Group I: root planing
with ultrasonic root planing tip, and Group II: root planing using hand curettes. The amount of
roughness produced on the surface of each samples in the two groups were evaluated using the
atomic force microscopy (AFM) and statistically analyzed using ANOVA and Wilcoxon tests.
Results: Results suggested that the surface roughness produced on root after root planing using
hand instrument is lower than that of ultrasonic unit. However, there is no enough evidence to
conclude a significant difference (P=0.13) between root planing using hand instrument and
ultrasonic root planing tip.
Conclusion: From the present study, authors concluded that root planing using ultrasonic unit
causes more tooth surface roughness as compared to hand instruments. However, there is no
statistically significant difference between the surface-roughness of root-cementum produced
due to the root planing in both the groups.
Clinical significance of the study: Because they provide locations for microbial dental plaque
to accumulate, teeth surfaces that are rough or uneven have a negative effect on the
periodontium's expected recovery.