Ehn. Pow et al., LINEAR DIMENSIONAL CHANGE OF HEAT-CURED ACRYLIC RESIN COMPLETE DENTURES AFTER RELINE AND REBASE, The Journal of prosthetic dentistry, 80(2), 1998, pp. 238-245
Statement of problem. Relining and rebasing of complete dentures are c
ommon procedures to improve the fit of the prostheses. After relining
or rebasing, adjustments may be required because of dimensional change
that occurs during reprocessing of the denture when new denture base
material is polymerized. Purpose. This study analyzed the linear dimen
sional change of heat-cured acrylic resin that occurs during reline an
d rebase procedures for complete dentures. Material and methods. Twent
y-two maxillary and mandibular complete denture bases with artificial
teeth were saturated by immersion in distilled water at 37 degrees C /- 1 degrees C. Fine crosses were marked on the incisal edges of the c
entral incisors and the supporting cusps of the second molar teeth. Di
stances between the marks were measured with a high resolution traveli
ng microscope. Heat-cured acrylic resin was processed by a long curing
cycle of 72 degrees C for 6.5 hours, then heated to 100 degrees C for
over 30 minutes and kept at 100 degrees C for 1 hour. The relined or
rebased denture was allowed to cool slowly in the water bath for 48 ho
urs to reach ambient temperature. The reference crosses were measured
immediately after careful deflasking. Results. In the relining procedu
re, all incisor-molar and intermolar distances exhibited shrinkage of
0.3%, despite different shapes of maxillary and mandibular dentures. R
esults of the rebasing procedure were similar to that of the reline ex
cept that only 0.1% intermolar shrinkage was found on the maxillary de
nture. Conclusion. Shrinkage was approximately 0.15 mm for an interarc
h distance of 50 mm. This degree of change is both clinically undetect
able and insignificant. Using this processing cycle for acrylic resin
in reline or rebase procedures did not cause clinically significant di
mensional changes to complete dentures.