A comparison of the mechanical properties of 3D-printed, milled, and conventional denture base resin materials

Abstract

This study investigated the mechanical properties of three denture base resin materials produced by three-dimensional (3D) printing (Group P), computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing milling (Group M), and conventional (Group C) methods. Three-point flexural tests were performed before and after thermocycling treatment to evaluate the mechanical properties. Additionally, nanoindentation and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) were used to analyze the behavior of the materials. After flexural strength tests, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed to evaluate the fracture cross-section. The results consistently showed that Group P exhibited significantly higher flexural strength and modulus regardless of thermocycling than Groups C and M (p<0.05), along with a higher storage modulus in DMA and greater resistance and resilience to nanoindentation deformation. SEM analysis showed that Group C had a relatively smooth cross-section, whereas Groups M and P had torn cross-sections. This study suggests that the 3D-printed material has suitable mechanical properties for hard dental prosthesis applications.