Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an attractive technology in dentistry. Acrylic-based 3D printed resin parts have to undergo postcuring processes to enhance their mechanical and biological properties, such as UV-light and thermal polymerization. However, no previous studies have revealed how the postcuring temperature influences the biocompatibility of the produced parts. Therefore, we postprocessed 3D printed denture teeth resin under different postcuring temperatures (40, 60 and 80 °C) for different periods (15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min), and evaluated their flexural properties, Vickers hardness, cell cytotoxicity, cell viability, and protein adsorption. In addition, confocal laser scanning was used to assess the condition of human gingival fibroblasts. It was found that increasing the postcuring temperature significantly improved the flexural strength and cell viability. The flexural strength and cell viability were 147.48 ± 5.82 MPa (mean ± standard deviation) and 89.51 ± 7.09%, respectively, in the group cured at 80 °C for 120 min, which were higher than the values in the 40 and 60 °C groups. The cell cytotoxicity increased in the 40 °C groups and for longer cultivation time. Confocal laser scanning revealed identifiable differences in the morphology of fibroblasts. This study has confirmed that the postcuring temperature influences the final mechanical and biological properties of 3D printed resin.
Highlights
The advent of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) has brought a new modality to restorative dentistry, which has developed remarkably over the past 2 decades [1]
Different lowercase letters indicate a significant difference in the same group
Lowercase letters indicate a significant difference in the same group
Summary
The advent of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) has brought a new modality to restorative dentistry, which has developed remarkably over the past 2 decades [1]. CAD/CAM has mainly utilized in subtractive manufacturing (SM), which is being used routinely in various dental applications. Additive manufacturing (AM) is of greater interest than SM for the production of dental prostheses [6]. Noteworthy technological improvements in digital dentistry are occurring in a method of additive manufacturing called three-dimensional (3D) printing due to its potential for rapid prototyping and the production of desired complex structures in a layer-by-layer manner from printable biomaterials [6,7]. Myriad photosensitive resins have been approved and used widely in restorative dentistry due to their good biocompatibility
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