Comparison of flexural strength in three types of denture base resins: An in vitro study

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the flexural strength of a commercially available, heat polymerized acrylic denture base material could be improved using reinforcements. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 30 specimens (65 mm × 10 mm × 3 mm) were fabricated; the specimens were divided into three groups with 10 specimens each. They were Group 1 - conventional denture base resins, Group 2 - high impact denture base resins, and Group 3 - glass reinforced denture base resins. The specimens were loaded until failure on a three-point bending test machine. An one-way analysis of variance was used to determine statistical differences among the flexural strength of three groups. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 21.0© (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA) and the results were obtained. RESULTS: The flexural strength values showed statistically significant differences among experimental groups (P < 0.005). CONCLUSION: Within the limitations of the study polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) reinforced with glass fibers showed the highest flexural strength values this was followed by PMMA reinforced with butadiene styrene, and the least strength was observed in the conventional denture base resins.