EVALUATION OF TREE COMPOSITES OPTICAL DENSITY ASSOCIATED TO DENTAL STRUCTURE

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the optical density of three composites  with different thicknesses, associated to the dental structure, through softwares for analysis digitized radiographies. For this, an human upper premolar, sectioned in the mésio-distal. Samples of 1, 2, 3, and 4 mm of thicknesses had been confectioned of each filling material. Of each sample three standardized periapical radiographies had been gotten. The images had been digitized and the average gray levels were obtained through the softwares ImageLab v. 2,3, ImageTool v. 3,0 and Adobe Photoshop v. 6,0.,  in a standardized area of the sample and the dentin of the same tooth. The Analysis of Multiple Variance, using the delineation block-type, found no significant differences in the average optical density neither for composites nor for dentin in relation to the different softwares. Complementing the analysis with the Test of Multiple Comparisons of Tukey, it is verified that, for all the thicknesses and composites, the mean density - or either the radiopacity - of the composite are significantly higher than the dentine. In all tested materials, the average optical density, although to increase as the thickness of the sample, does not differ significantly. Statistical significant differences had been observed between the three filling materials tested, independent of the thickness of the sample. The increasing order of optical density was: Durafill, Charisma, and Z-250.