burnishing /bur′nish·ing/ [ME, burnischen, to make brown] , 1. (in dentistry) the process of adapting, polishing, and/or work-hardening a metal restoration under the sliding pressure of a smooth hard instrument, as in finishing the surface of a gold filling. 2. (in dentistry) smoothing and adapting the margins of a thin, annealed sheet of platinum to form a band about a tooth as a matrix for a restoration.
