Assessment of Hardness, Flexural Modulus, and Bond Strength of Acrylic Denture bases Fabricated by 3D Digital Methods

Abstract

Abstract: Objectives: The inferior mechanical properties and the clinical failure of the denture bases could be related to their processing technique and the type of resin used during fabrication. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate and compare the effect of the processing technique on the hardness, flexural modulus, and bond strength of the different denture base resins. Materials and Methods: Three processing techniques were used in the present study to fabricate the tested samples; compression-molded fabrication method “control group”, and two different three-dimensional (3D) fabrication methods (CAD/CAM milled “subtractive”, and 3D printed “additive”). The samples used in this study fabricated with different dimensions according to the type of test (hardness, flexural modulus, and shear bond strength). Results: The results of hardness and flexural modulus revealed that; the CAD/CAM milled samples showed statistically significant higher hardness and flexural modulus values followed by the conventional compression molded and 3D printed respectively. While the results of shear bond strength showed no statistically significant difference among the three different processing methods. Conclusion: the processing technology has a significant effect on the hardness and flexural modulus of the material. While there is no effect to the fabrication technique on the teeth bond strength.