Evaluation of Acrylic Resin Surface Wettability Impregnated with Antifungal Agent

Denture stomatitis and other fungal infections have increased the demand for developing modified denture base materials by incorporating active pharmaceuticals to minimize these problems. Fluconazole is one of the frequently used medications to treat fungal infections particularly those caused by Candida Albicans which have been incorporated with acrylic resin denture base material. Surface wettability play a significant role in the success of this mechanism. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of fluconazole incorporation with acrylic resin (polymethylmethacrylate) on surface hydrophilicity of the denture base material. Two groups of specimens were prepared and tested in this study, control and fluconazole-loaded, with 8 specimens for each group. The experimental group specimens were loaded with 10% fluconazole of powder-polymer ratio during the mixing stage of specimens’ preparation. All specimens were submitted to water contact angle measurements. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in surface hydrophilicity of the acrylic resin between the groups. Fluconazole impregnation to acrylic resin did not affect the surface hydrophilicity of the denture base material.