Influence of Dental Glass Fibers and Orthopedic Mesh on the Failure Loads of Polymethyl Methacrylate Denture Base Resin

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the fracture loads of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) complete denture bases reinforced with glass-fiber mesh and orthopedic casting tape (OCT) in comparison to conventional PMMA dentures under artificial aging. Dental fiberglass framework (Group 1) and OCT (Group 2 and 3) reinforced PMMA acrylic dentures were fabricated on the edentulous ridge. Ten PMMA dentures without reinforcement (Group 4) were included as controls. All specimens were placed in a chewing simulator chamber, and fatigue load was applied. To assess the fracture loads, static loads with a universal testing machine were applied. Fractured specimens in each group were evaluated under a scanning electron microscope. The data were statistically analyzed employing analysis of variance and Tukey post-hoc test. The association of denture weight and thickness on fracture load was assessed using Pearson and Spearman correlations. Dental fiberglass (Group 1) displayed the highest fracture load (692.33 ± 751.41 N), and Group 4 (control) exhibited the lowest fracture loads (281.41 ± 302.51 N). Dentures reinforced with fiberglass mesh framework exhibited intact fractures. In contrast, Group 2 and 3 specimens using OCT demonstrated ditching fractures. It was observed that the thickness and weight of all the reinforced specimens influenced the load required to fracture the dentures (p < 0.001). Denture specimens strengthened with OCT (Groups 2 and 3) exhibited failure loads lower than dental fiberglass (Group 1) specimens but higher than unreinforced controls.