COMPARISON OF THE FLEXURAL STRENGTH OF THREE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE HEAT CURE DENTURE BASE MATERIALS AS AN INDICATOR OF THEIR FRACTURE RESISTANCE

Abstract PMMA (poly-methyl-methacrylate) has been widely favoured for the production of denture bases. Its popularity as a polymeric material stem from its functional properties, which make it a preferred choice over other available options. However, conventional PMMA denture bases are relatively brittle and weak, making them prone to mechanical failure and fractures. The aim is to investigate the flexural strength properties of three commercial conventional heat cured PMMA that are used to fabricate denture bases. Three PMMA groups were made 15 samples to each group with dimensions of 65mm × 10mm × 3mm (according to ADA No 12), the first group (A) represents (Respal NF CE0068, Italy), the second group (B) represents (BMS dental, Italy), the third group (C) represents (everall7 H plus). The FS test was conducted using (Metrotech MTE-25 universal testing machine, Spain), each sample was subjected into the 3-point bending test with the load to 250 kg applied on the centre of the suspended samples. The samples were supported from each side with jigs of 3mm and vertical spam was 55mm.The mean FS in group C is the highest with 75.0427MPa, while group B is higher than group A with FS mean 71.1407, 65.5415 MPa respectively. In conclusion, there is no significant difference between the three tested PMMA groups (P-value 0.2546).