Natural alternative for denture polishing - Eggshell powder

Every dental material used in the oral cavity requires an effective finishing and polishing to ensure an acceptable oral health. Though dental pumice powder achieves a smooth and polished surface on acrylic resin, it still has its own limitations challenging to find a better alternative like commercially available Eggshell powder which provides the similar surface polish. The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the abrasive property of commercially available eggshell powder in reducing the surface roughness of denture base resins with that of the abrasive property of Dental Pumice Powder. Thirty poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) specimens were fabricated and divided into two groups after standardised finishing. Group-P containing 15 PMMA Specimens were polished using commercially available Dental Pumice powder. Group-E contains 15 PMMA Specimens were polished using commercially available Eggshell powder. The average surface roughness (R) after polishing was measured with a surface roughness tester. T test was used to analyse and compare the R values. The p-value obtained from the t-test was 8.87608E-07 (0.000000887608), which is significantly lower than the conventional alpha level of 0.05. This result indicates a statistically significant difference in surface roughness between the two groups which used different polishing agents. With in the limitations of the study, it was noted that PMMA specimens polished with dental pumice powder showed significantly lower surface roughness than those polished with eggshell powder. However, eggshell powder's comparable performance highlights its potential as a natural, eco-friendly alternative. This necessitates further studies on optimising its composition, such as reducing particle size or adding surfactants to enhance its polishing efficiency for dental applications.