Journal of Oral Rehabilitation 2002 29; 263267

An investigation into the transverse and impact strength of `high strength' denture base acrylic resins
D . C . J A G G E R * , R . G . J A G G E R , S . M . A L L E N & A . H A R R I S O N *

*Department of Oral and Dental

Science, Division of Restorative Dentistry (Prosthodontics), Bristol Dental School and Hospital, Bristol and Department of Adult Dental Health, Dental School, University of Wales, Cardiff, UK

SUMMARY

A range of materials, often marketed as high strength resins is available. These materials are often expensive options to conventional heat-cured acrylic resin. The aim of this study was to investigate transverse and impact strength of ve `high strength' acrylic resin denture base materials. A conventional heat-cured acrylic resin was used as a control. Specimens were prepared as specied in the International Standard Organization (ISO 1567: 1988) and British standards for the Testing of Denture Base Resins (BS 2487: 1989) and the British Standard Specication for Orthodontic resins (BS 6747: 1987) for transverse bend and impact testing. The impact strength was measured using a Zwick

pendulum impact tester and the transverse bend strength measured using a Lloyds Instruments testing machine. The results showed that Metrocryl Hi, Luctitone 199 and N.D.S. Hi all had an impact strength which was signicantly higher than the control. For the modulus of rupture, there was a signicant difference between Sledgehammer and the other groups. There was no signicant difference between the other groups and the control. For the modulus of elasticity, Sledgehammer produced the highest value followed by the control. The remaining four materials had a modulus of elasticity less than the control.

Introduction
The material most commonly used in the construction of dentures is poly (methyl methacrylate), however this material it is not without limitations, particularly in terms of exural and impact strength. Attempts to improve the mechanical properties of poly (methyl methacrylate) have taken the researcher through many avenues and the reinforcement of denture base materials has been reviewed (Jagger et al., 1999). Alternative materials to poly (methyl methacrylate) have been introduced only later to be withdrawn (Mutlu et al., 1989). Over the years various types of bres or beads, such as carbon (Bowman & Manley, 1984; Ekstrand et al., 1987), polyethylene (Clarke et al., 1992; Ladizesky et al., 1994), glass (Solnit, 1991; Vallittu, 1996), aramid (Grave et al., 1985; Berrong et al., 1990) and poly (methyl methacrylate) (Jagger & Harrison, 1999; Jagger et al., 2000) have
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been added to acrylic resin in an attempt to improve its mechanical properties. Metal inserts in the form of wires, meshes and plates have been incorporated into dentures in an attempt to reinforce areas potentially vulnerable to fracture (Vallittu & Lassila, 1992; Polyzois, 1995). The chemical modication of acrylic resin through the incorporation of rubber in the form of butadiene styrene has been successful in terms of improving the impact strength (Rodford, 1990; Rodford & Braden, 1992). However, the incorporation of rubber has not been entirely successful in that it can have detrimental effects on the modulus of elasticity and hence the rigidity of the denture base. A wide range of materials, often marketed as high strength resins is available. These materials are often expensive options to conventional heat-cured acrylic resin. The aim of this study was to investigate transverse and impact strength of a selection of `high strength'

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Table 1. Materials used in the investigation together with the manufacturer Material Metrocryl High Luctitone 199 Sledgehammer Enigma Hi-base N.D.S. Hi Trevalon (control) Manufacturer Metrodent, Hudderseld, UK Dentsply, Weybridge, UK Bracon, Etchingham, UK Schottlander, Letchworth, UK Mobildent, St Annes, UK Dentsply, Weybridge, UK Material Metrocryl Hi Luctitone 199 N.D.S. Hi Enigma Hi-base Sledgehammer Trevalon Number of specimens 10 9 10 9 9 10 Mean (kJ m2) 1145 1058 913 773 740 494 s.d. 234 203 103 163 220 329 Table 2. Impact fracture energies (kJ m2) of denture base acrylic resins. Zwick notched Charpy test. Specimens tested in air at 20 2 C

acrylic resin denture base materials. A conventional heat-cured acrylic resin was used as a control.

Materials and method

The materials used in the investigation are presented in Table 1. A series of polymerized blanks was produced by mixing the appropriate amount of polymer with monomer according to the manufacturers' instructions. The mix was allowed to reach the dough stage prior to loading into a gypsum mould in a dental ask. Moulds were prepared by investing master Perspex* blanks in gypsum. Following a trial closure, the plate specimens were cured in a thermostatically controlled water bath for 7 h at 70 C and 3 h at 100 C. The asks were allowed to bench cool before opening. The cured plates were carefully removed from the mould, the excess ash was removed and the specimens nished using a Kemet polishing machine with wet, self-adhesive. waterproof silicon carbide paper discs of 203 mm diameter, 320 and 600 A grit size. Each plate was of sufcient size to be cut into four specimens using a band saw. The specimens were then returned to the polishing machine and carefully nished to the dimensions of 64 10 25 mm for the transverse bend tests and 50 6 4 mm for the impact tests, as specied in the International Standard Organization (ISO 1567: 1988) and British standards for the Testing of Denture Base Resins (BS 2487: 1989) and the British Standard Specication for Orthodontic Resins (BS 6747: 1987). A tolerance of 003 mm was accepted. Ten specimens were prepared for each percentage group and stored in a water bath at 37 2 C until fully saturated. The impact specimens were taken from the water bath and stored in air for 1 h prior to testing.
*ICI, Welwyn Garden City, UK. Kemet, Maidstone, Kent, UK.

A one-way analysis of variance demonstrated that there was a signicant difference between some groups P < 0001. A Scheffe test was performed and the vertical tie bars in the table indicate values, which are not signicantly different between one another.

Impact test For the impact tests on each specimen, a v-notch was cut to a depth of 08 mm leaving an effective depth under the notch of 32 mm. This was carried out with a Zwick notch cutter (Model 5000) and a notch broach 69D. The impact strength was measured using a Zwick pendulum impact tester (Model 5102). Impact tests were undertaken in air at 20 2 C. Transverse bend test The transverse bend test used the three-point loading method (British Standard Specication For Denture Base Polymers 2487: 1989) with a cross-head speed of 5 mm min1. A Lloyds Instruments testing machine (Model L2000R) was used. Specimens were tested in a water bath at 37 C to simulate oral conditions. Moduli of rupture, moduli of elasticity and peak load were recorded.

Results
The results of the impact tests are presented in Table 2 and the results of the transverse bend tests are presented in Tables 35. The results in Tables 35 were subjected to statistical analysis using a one-way analysis of variance and where appropriate the Scheffe test.

Zwick Testing Machines Ltd, Leominster, Hereford, UK. Lloyds Instruments plc, Southampton, UK.

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Table 3. Modulus of rupture (MPa). Transverse strength of acrylic resin denture base materials. (Test cross-head speed 5 mm min1, tested in water at 37 C) Number of specimens 10 10 6 10 9 7 Modulus of rupture (mean Mpa) 7735 6291 6174 6144 6144 6166 Table 5. Peak load (N). Transverse strength of acrylic resin denture base materials. (Test cross-head speed 5 mm min1, tested in water at 37 C) Number of specimens 10 10 9 7 6 10 Peak load (N) 6572 5258 5233 5169 5133 5097

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Material Sledgehammer Trevalon N.D.S. Hi Enigma Hi-base Luctitone 199 Metrocryl Hi

s.d. 449 700 319 450 361 123

Material Sledgehammer Trevalon Luctitone 199 Metrocryl Hi N.D.S. Hi Enigma Hi base

s.d. 467 606 300 110 304 507

A one-way analysis of variance demonstrated that there was a signicant difference between Sledgehammer and the other groups P < 0001. A Scheffe test was performed and the vertical tie bars in the table indicate values, which are not signicantly different between one another.

A one-way analysis of variance demonstrated that there was a signicant difference between Sledgehammer and the other groups P < 0001. A Scheffe test was performed and the vertical tie bars in the table indicate values which are not signicantly different between one another.

Table 4. Modulus of elasticity (MPa). Transverse strength of acrylic resin denture base materials. (Test cross-head speed 5 mm min1, tested in water at 37 C) Number of specimens 10 10 6 10 7 9 Modulus of elasticity (mean MPa) 19995 17370 15283 15082 14891 1465

`high strength' denture base acrylic resins with a conventional heat-cured acrylic resin. Impact test In all the impacts tests, the specimens broke with a sharp fracture. This type of fracture is typical of brittle fracture behaviour characterized by a lack of distortion of the broken parts. Impact energy values satised the requirements of the British Standard Specication for orthodontic resins BS 6747: 1987 although it should be noted that these are auto-polymerizing resins. The results demonstrated that there were signicant differences between some materials. There was no signicant difference between Enigma Hi-base (773 kJ m2) and Sledgehammer** (740 kJ m2) compared with the control (494 kJ m2). The impact fracture energies ranged from 1145 kJ m2 for the highest value recorded for Metrodent Hi to 494 kJ m2 for the conventional heat-cured acrylic resin Trevalon. Metrocryl Hi, Luctitone 199 and N.D.S. Hi had an impact strength which was signicantly higher than the control. An improvement in the impact strength of the `high strength' acrylic resins was expected. This result should be reected in a reduction in the clinical failure of dentures through impact fracture manufactured from
Schottlander, Letchworth, UK. **Bracon, Etchingham, UK. Metrodent, Hudderseld, UK. Dentsply, Weybridge, UK. Mobildent, St Annes, UK.

Material Sledgehammer Trevalon N.D.S. Hi Enigma Hi-base Metrocryl Hi Luctitone 199

s.d. 983 398 921 1401 913 1003

A one-way analysis of variance demonstrated that there was a signicant difference between some groups P < 0001. A Scheffe test was performed and the vertical tie bars in the table indicate values which are not signicantly different between one another.

Discussion
The fracture of acrylic resin dentures remains an unresolved problem and failure is probably because of a multiplicity of factors rather than the intrinsic properties of the denture base material. Various attempts have been made to overcome the problems associated with the fracture of acrylic resin dentures. One approach is the development of denture base materials marketed as high strength in comparison with conventional heat-cured acrylic resin. This study compared the impact and transverse strengths of ve
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these materials. It is not possible to discuss the mechanisms of reinforcement of the individual acrylic resins as most manufacturers of denture base materials are reluctant to reveal the exact constituents of the products, or the mechanisms of reinforcement used. The development of high impact strength denture base acrylic resin and the mechanisms of reinforcement has been discussed in more general terms (Rodford & Braden, 1992). The mechanism of reinforcement described was acrylate terminated butadiene styrene copolymers (Macromers) of relatively low molecular weight and narrow molecular range together with nonacrylate terminated block copolymers. The results of this study are in agreement with Murphy et al. (1982) in an investigation of some mechanical properties of three denture base materials, a conventional heat-cured acrylic resin, a rubber reinforced heat-cured acrylic resin and an injection moulded, rubber-reinforced acrylic resin. They reported a considerable improvement in the impact strength for the rubber-reinforced polymers. However, in contrast, Johnston et al. (1981), in an investigation of the exural fatigue of 10 commonly used denture base acrylic resins which included a `high strength' acrylic resin, reported that the `high impact' acrylic resins as a category did not exhibit superior results compared with other resins. Transverse bend test The transverse (exural strength) of a material is a measure of stiffness and resistance to fracture. Flexural strength tests were undertaken as these were considered relevant to the loading characteristics of a denture base in a clinical situation. A number of studies (Regli & Kydd, 1953; Swoop & Kydd, 1966) have established that dentures in service undergo only small deformations and Ladizesky et al. (1993) reported that exural modulus should be measured at similar small deformations. In addition when deections are small the calculated exural modulus may be regarded as Young's (elastic) modulus of the material. The machine chosen for the tests, the Lloyd's Instrument Materials Testing Machine is routinely used and widely accepted. The tests were carried out according to BS 2487: 1989 such that the results were directly comparable with previous studies. The International Standard Organization (ISO 1567) (1988) and the British Standard specication 1989 (BS 2487) for denture base resins have specied transverse deformation limits which are from 1 to 25 mm for a force of 15 35 N and 25 mm for a force of 1550 N. The average breaking force of acrylic resin should not be less than 55 N. In this respect, only Sledgehammer satised the requirement. There were no signicant differences between the other materials tested. The lowest recorded peak load was for Enigma (5097 N). Stafford et al. (1980) compared the properties of a range of high impact polymers with conventional acrylic resin denture base materials. They demonstrated that some unreinforced conventional acrylic resin materials had a higher fatigue life value compared with the reinforced acrylic resins but demonstrated a large scatter. In the present study, for the modulus of rupture, a one-way analysis of variance demonstrated a signicant difference between Sledgehammer and the other groups. There was no signicant difference between the other groups and the control. An increase in the modulus of elasticity is associated with an increase in the rigidity of the denture base material. Sledgehammer produced the highest value of 1999 MPa, followed by Trevalon. The remaining four materials had a modulus of elasticity less than the conventional heat-cured control. The reduction in the modulus of elasticity may be a reection of the type of reinforcement, for example the incorporation of rubber.

Conclusions
Metrocryl Hi, Luctitone 199 and N.D.S. Hi all had an impact strength which was signicantly higher than the conventional heat-cured acrylic resin control material. For the modulus of rupture, there was a signicant difference between Sledgehammer and the other groups. There was no signicant difference between the other groups and the control. For the modulus of elasticity, Sledgehammer produced the highest value followed by the control. The remaining four materials had a modulus of elasticity less than the control.

References
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Correspondence: Dr D.C. Jagger, Restorative Dentistry, Bristol Dental School, Lower Maudlin Street, Bristol BS1 2LY, UK. E-mail: d.c.jagger@ bris.ac.uk

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