Oil-Incorporated Poly(Lactic Acid) as an Alternative Material for Orthodontic Base Plate: A 3D Printing Approach

Abstract

Removable orthodontic appliances fabricated from poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) have been routinely used for active orthodontic correction and as retention appliances. This article reports the use of a combination of biodegradable-grade poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and cooking-grade sesame oil as a biodegradable alternative for PMMA. The underlying purpose is to combat the environmental hazards due to nondegradable PMMA as well as to overcome its structural and mechanical drawbacks. The fabrication technique that has been used is fused deposition modeling-based 3D printing technology. Oil-dipping for 24 h was done to render the PLA hydrophobic and to reduce its brittleness. Incorporation of oil within the PLA base plate has been confirmed by FT-IR and FT-Raman spectroscopic techniques. The PLA-cooking oil material has exhibited satisfactory tensile, compressive and flexural strengths. The proposed material has demonstrated excellent attributes in terms of product precision, dimensional stability, density, hardness, and maximum load bearing capacity for the purpose of fabricating orthodontic appliances.