Effect of five woven fiber reinforcements on the impact and transverse strength of a denture base resin

Statement of problem. Fracture strength of denture base resins is of great concern, and many approaches have been used to strengthen acrylic resin den tures. Purpose. This study measured the effect of 5 fiber strengtheners on the fra cture resistance of denture base acrylic resin material. Impact strength, t ransverse strength, deflection, and elasticity modulus values of a heat-pol ymerized denture base resin (Trevalon), reinforced with glass, carbon, thin Kevlar, thick Kevlar, and polyethylene fibers in woven form were studied. Material and methods. One hundred acrylic resin test specimens reinforced w ith woven fibers were fabricated. The control group consisted of 20 specime ns with no fiber reinforcement. For the impact strength test, a Charpy-type impact tester was used. Transverse strength was assessed with a a-paint be nding test by using a screw-driven mechanical testing machine. Ten specimen s were used for each test. Results. The highest impact test values were produced by polyethylene-reinf orced group, and the lowest values were obtained from specimens containing no fibers. There were significant differences among the test groups, but no significant differences in transverse strength were found. The lowest tran sverse strength values were obtained for specimens strengthened with polyet hylene fibers, which also insignificantly decreased transverse strength of the acrylic resin. Conclusion. The impact strength of denture base acrylic resins was increase d with fibers in woven form. Tested fibers did not have a significant effec t on the transverse strengths.