The topography of root ends resected with fissure burs and refined with two types of finishing burs

Objectives. This study compared the surface topography of roots resected with #57, Lindeman, and Multi-purpose burs. Further comparisons were made after refinements with either a multifluted carbide or an ultrafine diamond finishing bur. Study Design. Three groups of single-rooted human teeth were resected with each resection bur, and resin replicas of the root ends were made. Root ends from each resection bur group were finished with either a multifluted carbide or an ultrafine diamond finishing bur, and the root ends were replicated. All replicas were evaluated at a magnification of ×20 for smoothness and surface irregularities. Data analysis was done with the Wilcoxon signed rank test and the chi-square test at a significance level of p < 0.05. Results. The Multi-purpose bur produced a smoother and more uniplanar surface than the #57 bur and caused less damage to the root than either the #57 or the Lindeman bur. The multifluted carbide finishing bur tended to improve the smoothness of the root end, while the ultrafine diamond tended to roughen the surface. Conclusions. The Multi-purpose bur produced the smoothest and most uniplanar resected root-end surface with the least root shattering. The multifluted carbide finishing bur produced a smoother surface than the ultrafine diamond bur.