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Effect of Incorporating Two Different Woven Glass Fiber Reinforcent on the Flexural Strength of Acrylic Denture Base Materials

Mehmood Asghar, Shahab Ud Din, Muhammad Kaleem

Polymethyl methacrylate is widely used for denture base fabrication due to its pleasing aesthetics, ease of manipulation and cost-effectiveness compared to the metallic denture base materials and fixed prostheses. However, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) prostheses are prone to fracture due to their poor mechanical properties and degrade over time due to water sorption. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of adding woven E-glass fibers on the flexural strength of Meadway heat cure Supercure denture base material. This was done by mutually comparing the flexural strength of unreinforced and StickNet™ (StickTech, Finland) and industrial (Iqbal Sons, Pakistan) glass fiber (GF) reinforced PMMA specimens respectively. Specimen preparation and testing was performed under the guidelines of ISO 20795-1 for DBM. Mechanical testing was performed using a Universal Testing Machine. The results indicated that Glass fiber reinforcement resulted in significant enhancement in mechanical properties of PMMA. StickNETTM reinforced specimens showed highest flexural strength and fracture toughness, followed by the Industrial GF reinforced and unreinforced PMMA. This study clearly demonstrates positive improvement in strength and durability of PMMA after reinforcement with woven GFs. Future studies should focus on finding means to decrease the relatively higher solubility of glass fiber reinforced PMMA specimens in comparison to unreinforced PMMA.