Comparative Evaluation of Flexural Strength of Four Different Types of Provisional Restoration Materials: An In Vitro Pilot Study

With provisional restorations, properties such as flexural strength play a key role in maintaining the abutment teeth in position over the interim period until the final restorations are placed. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the flexural strength of four commonly used provisional resin materials. Ten identical 25 × 2 × 2 mm specimens were made from four different groups of provisional resin material, namely 1: SR Ivocron (Ivoclar Vivadent) cold-polymerized poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA), 2: S Ivocron (Ivoclar Vivadent) heat-polymerized PMMA, 3: Protemp (3M Germany-ESPE) auto-polymerized bis-acryl composite, and 4: Revotek LC (GC Corp, Tokyo) light-polymerized urethane dimethacrylate resin. The mean values of the flexural strength of each group were calculated and the data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc tests. The mean values (MPa) were as follows: for cold-polymerized PMMA, it was 125.90 MPa; for heat-polymerized PMMA, it was 140.00 MPa, with auto-polymerized bis-acryl composite 133.00 MPa; and for light-polymerized urethane dimethacrylate resin, it was 80.84 MPa. Thus, the highest flexural strength was recorded with heat-polymerized PMMA and the lowest flexural strength with light-polymerized urethane dimethacrylate resin, which was significantly low. The study did not detect a significant difference in the flexural strengths of cold PMMA, hot PMMA, and auto bis-acryl composite.