Abstract
We report for the first time on the effect of biocompatible hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanopowder reinforcement with different concentrations on the structural and mechanical properties of fabricated self-cured polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) based dental materials (GC UNIFAST III). A comparison among the structural and mechanical properties between hand and ultrasonic mixing is also presented. Fabricated specimens were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), micro indentation, and flexural strength techniques. The ultrasonic mixing method provides better sample textures of the composite as compared to hand mixing. It is found that XRD and IR intensity of the peaks increases with the increase of h-BN concentration due to nanocomposite formation. The additions of h-BN nanoparticles to the acrylic resin enhanced the hardness and the flexibility values of the composites. Independently of the mixing method used, adding h-BN nanopowder relatively increases the Vickers Hardness numbers (VH) and Flexural Strength (FS) of the unmodified materials. However, using ultrasonic mixing method combined with h-BN nanopowder increases VH numbers to 300% and FS values to 550% with respect to the unmodified sample made by hand mixing. The results obtained are very encouraging and will support future research in vivo, to confirm whether PMMA loaded with h-BN nanoparticles is an improvement compared to current dental restorative materials.
Highlights
Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is the preferred resin material used in restorative dentistry because of its low water sorption and solubility, lack of toxicity, simple manipulation technique, excellent aesthetics, and reparability
We examined the effect of nano-sized hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) powder reinforcement with different concentrations on the structural, hardness, and flexural strength properties of fabricated specimens
Specimens made of different size boron nitride nanopowder-reinforced self-cured PMMA materials were fabricated by using both hand and ultrasonic mixing methods and investigated with respect to their structural and mechanical properties
Summary
Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is the preferred resin material used in restorative dentistry because of its low water sorption and solubility, lack of toxicity, simple manipulation technique, excellent aesthetics, and reparability. The hand mixing method of self-cured PMMA material being currently used in dental offices should be performed in less than 20 s as the dough hardens very quickly into its final configuration. The mechanical properties of the composite are not satisfactory and often result in brittle materials used in dental repairs for instance [1,2,3]. Heat treatment and post treatment increase the degree of polymerization and, to some extent, improves the strength of the composite [7]. Several studies have attempted to improve the impact strength, fatigue resistance and transverse strength of the acrylic resin. Reinforcing with carbon fibers, glass fibers, ultra-high molecular, and metal powders are one of the modifications to produce an acrylic co-polymerized with relatively high impact strength [8,9,10]. A systematic review and meta-analysis was carried out to examine the mechanical properties of provisional restoration materials used with direct techniques [11]
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