Water Sorption, Solubility, and Translucency of 3D-Printed Denture Base Resins.

Mohammed M Gad,Shahad A Alhamid,Soban Q Khan,Firas K Alqarawi,Faris A Alshahrani,Alanoud Albarrak,Saleh Z Alshehri

doi:10.3390/dj10030042

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the water sorption, solubility, and translucency of 3D-printed denture base resins (NextDent, FormLabs, and Asiga), compare them to heat-polymerized acrylic denture base resins, and assess their performance under the effects of thermal cycling. A total of 80 acrylic disc specimens were used in the current study, categorized into four groups (n = 10); in one group, the samples were fabricated conventionally with a heat-polymerizing process (control), while the other three groups were fabricated digitally from different 3D-printed reins (NextDent, FormLabs, and Asiga). Specimens were fabricated according to the manufacturers’ recommendations and immersed in distilled water for 48 h at 37 °C. Data on water sorption, solubility, and translucency measurements (T1) were obtained. All the specimens were subjected to 5000 thermal cycles, and then the measures were repeated using the same method (T2). Data analysis was attained via ANOVA and the post hoc Tukey test (α = 0.05). The type of resin significantly affected the values of water sorption, solubility, and translucency (p < 0.001). The water sorption of 3D-printed resins was increased significantly in comparison to control with or without a thermal cycling effect. In terms of solubility, a significant increase in 3D-printed resins before thermocycling was observed; however, after thermocycling, Asiga had a significantly low value compared to the other groups (p < 0.001). Thermal cycling increased the water sorption and solubility of all tested materials. In comparison to control, the translucency of the 3D-printed resins was significantly decreased (p < 0.001). The translucency was significantly decreased per material in terms of the thermal cycling effect (before and after). NextDent showed significantly low translucency values (p < 0.001) compared to the other groups. All 3D-printed resin groups had higher water sorption and solubility and lower translucency values in comparison to the heat-polymerized resin group. Regardless of resin types, thermal cycling adversely affected all tested properties.

Highlights

Complete dentures still remain a satisfactory treatment modality for edentulous patients, especially those who cannot afford implant-supported fixed dental prosthesis
It is well known that the conventional denture fabrication method entails a tedious and labor-intensive laboratory process; digital systems have been developed to improve the production of denture bases and eliminate the common disadvantages related to the traditional denture fabrication process [1]
The null hypothesis is that there would be no significant difference between the tested materials in terms of water sorption/solubility and translucency

Summary

Introduction

Complete dentures still remain a satisfactory treatment modality for edentulous patients, especially those who cannot afford implant-supported fixed dental prosthesis. As an alternative to conventional methods, computer-aided-design/computer-aidedmanufacture (CAD/CAM) technology was introduced to fabricate dentures digitally. CAD/CAM dentures are fabricated without any labor-intensive procedures and in a timely manner in comparison to previous conventional methods, in addition to the ability to duplicate the existing dentures with enhanced adaptation to the underlying tissues [2,4]. This positively impacts the patients’ experience by reducing the clinical chair-side time, since fewer laboratory procedures are involved, which reduces the fabrication errors accompanied by the conventional method [2,3]

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Discussion

Conclusion