COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF FLEXURAL

STRENGTH AND HARDNESS OF HEAT-CURE

PMMA WHEN REINFORCED WITH KEVLAR
FIBERS, NYLON FIBERS, METAL MESH AND
FIBER GLASS MESH.
RESHM
A
BHAVA
NI
 INTRODUCTI
ON
POLYMETHYLMETHACRYLATE (PMMA) IS THE MOST COMMONLY USED
DENTURE BASE MATERIAL FOR THE PAST EIGHT DECADES IN THE WORLD OF
DENTISTRY.

ADVANTAGE - INCLUDING LOW COST, BIOCOMPATIBILITY, EASE OF

PROCESSING, STABILITY IN THE ORAL ENVIRONMENT, AND ACCEPTABLE
AESTHETICS.

THE MAJOR DRAWBACK OF PMMA IS ITS INADEQUATE MECHANICAL AND

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES SUCH AS LOW FLEXURAL STRENGTH (FS), LOW IMPACT
STRENGTH (IS), AND LOW SURFACE HARDNESS THAT LEADS TO REDUCED
CLINICAL PERFORMANCE OF THE DENTURE.
WITH USE, THE DENTURE BASE IS SUBJECTED TO MANY DIFFERENT
INFLUENCES SUCH AS BITING FORCES, THERMAL CHANGES, EXPOSURE TO
SALIVA, FOOD, AND WATER, AND MECHANICAL BLOWS, WHICH MAY
RESULT IN DENTURE FAILURE.

SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED WITH THE GOAL OF

ENHANCING THE PROPERTIES OF PMMA BY USING DIFFERENT CURING
METHODS AND/OR INCORPORATING FILLERS/FIBERS IN ITS COMPOSITION.

ADDITION OF FIBERS AND MESH TO PMMA IS A COMMONLY USED METHOD

TO IMPROVE BOTH ITS PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES.
 AIM & OBJECTIVES

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY IS TO EVALUATE & COMPARE

THE FLEXURAL STRENGTH AND HARDNESS OF HEAT
POLYMERIZED PMMA WHEN REINFORCED WITH KEVLAR
FIBERS, NYLON FIBERS, METAL MESH AND FIBER GLASS
MESH.
 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

H B MALLIKARJUNA MURTHY ET AL, CONDUCTED A STUDY TO

COMPARE THE IMPACT STRENGTH OF THE DENTURE BASE RESIN
WITH AND WITHOUT REINFORCEMENT WITH STAINLESS STEEL
MESH, GLASS FIBER, AND POLYETHYLENE FIBERS IN THE WOVEN
FORM AND CONCLUDED THAT REINFORCEMENT OF MAXILLARY
COMPLETE DENTURES SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN IMPACT
STRENGTH WHEN COMPARED TO UNREINFORCED DENTURES.
KOMAL LADHA ET AL, CONDUCTED A STUDY TO ASSESS THE
EFFECT OF A NOVEL PRE-IMPREGNATED GLASS FIBER
REINFORCEMENT SYSTEM AND NYLON FIBER REINFORCEMENT ON
THE FLEXURAL STRENGTH OF CONVENTIONAL HEAT-POLYMERIZED
POLYMETHYLMETHACRYLATE [PMMA] DENTURE RESIN UNDER DRY
AND WET STORAGE CONDITIONS AND CONCLUDED THAT THE
REINFORCEMENT OF DENTURE BASE RESIN WITH PRE-IMPREGNATED
GLASS FIBERS MAY BE A USEFUL MEANS OF STRENGTHENING
DENTURE BASES.
JACOB JOHN ET AL, CONDUCTED A STUDY TO EVALUATE FLEXURAL
STRENGTH OF A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE, HEAT-POLYMERIZED
ACRYLIC DENTURE BASE MATERIAL REINFORCED WITH 3 TYPES OF
FIBERS AND CONCLUDED THAT THE FLEXURAL STRENGTH OF HEAT-
POLYMERIZED PMMA DENTURE BASE RESIN INCREASED WITH THE
USE OF GLASS/ARAMID FIBERS.
MATERIALS AND
METHODS
MOLD DESCRIPTION:-
STAINLESS STEEL DIES MEASURING 65 MM IN LENGTH, 10 MM IN
WIDTH, AND 3 MM IN HEIGHT WERE MACHINED TO PREPARE
STANDARDIZED POLYMETHYL METHACRYLATE RESIN BLOCKS.
FIBER REINFORCEMENT MESH REINFORCEMENT

- 6mm in length. - Along the length.

- Multidirectional.
 PMMA
N-50

Control Fibers Mesh

frame
N -10 N -20 N -20

Nylon Kevlar Metal Fiber glass

N -10 N -10 N -10 N -10
 SPECIMEN TESTING

• THE FLEXURAL STRENGTH WAS EVALUATED BY SUBJECTING THE

SPECIMENS TO 3-POINT BENDING TEST USING UNIVERSAL TESTING
MACHINE.
ROCKWELL HARDNESS
TEST
• ANOVA TEST - USED FOR STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND POST
HOC TEST WAS DONE TO CHECK THE SIGNIFICANCE.
RESULTS
RESULTS
  N Mean Std. Std. Error
Deviation

control 10 76.590000 6.0647341 1.9178373

FLEXURA
L kevlar 10 106.870000 3.9406852 1.2461541
STRENGT
H
COMPARISION OF FLEXURAL
nylon 10 104.470000 5.2845792 1.6711307
STRENGTH BETWEEN
DIFFERENT GROUPS
control 10 76.590000 6.0647341 1.917837
3

FLEXURA
L metal
10 124.34000 3.3622744
1.063244
STRENGT mesh 5
H

1.349502
glass fiber 10 136.46000 4.2674999 0
 FLEXURAL STRENGTH FLEXURAL STRENGTH
120 160

140
100
120
80
100

60 80

60
40
40
20
20

0 0
Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 Category 5 Category 6 Category 7 Category 8 Category 9 Category Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 Category 5 Category 6 Category 7 Category 8 Category 9 Category
10 10

CONTROL KEVLAR NYLON CONTROL METAL GLASSFIBER

 control 10 70.500000 4.2617594 .715231

HARDNE kevlar 10 70.330000 3.9503422 1.97653

SS

nylon 10 70.910000 4.3267771 1.36824 COMPARISION OF

HARDNESS BETWEEN
DIFFERENT GROUPS
control 10 66.50000 2.261759 .715231

HARDNE metal 10 85.30000 3.181544 1.00609

SS mesh

glass 10 93.63000 3.849112 1.21719

fiber
 HARDNESS HARDNESS
120
90

80 100

70
80
60

50
60
40

30 40

20
20
10

0 0
Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 Category 5 Category 6 Category 7 Category 8 Category 9 Category Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 Category 5 Category 6 Category 7 Category 8 Category 9 Category
10 10

control kevlar nylon CONTROL METAL GLASSFIBER

 DISCUSSION
• THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE AND COMPARE
THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HEAT CURE PMMA REINFORCED
WITH GLASS-FIBER MESH, METAL MESH, KEVLAR FIBERS AND
NYLON FIBERS.

• THE STUDY FOUND THAT THE FLEXURAL STRENGTH – AMONG

MESH TYPE - FIBER GLASS MESH REINFORCED GROUPS WERE
HIGHER FOLLOWED BY METAL MESH.

• THE STUDY FOUND THAT THE HARDNESS OF FIBER GLASS MESH

• THE STUDY FOUND THAT THE FLEXURAL STRENGTH – AMONG
FIBERS – KEVLAR FIBER GROUPS WERE HIGHER FOLLOWED BY
NYLON FIBER.

• THE STUDY FOUND THAT THE HARDNESS – KEVLAR FIBER GROUP

– DECREASED SLIGHTLY.
• FIBER REINFORCED ARE SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR APPLICATION
PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF THEIR HIGH SPECIFIC MODULUS AND
SPECIFIC STRENGTH.

• BECAUSE THE MODULUS OF ELASTICITY OF GLASS FIBERS IS VERY

HIGH, MOST OF THE STRESSES ARE RECEIVED BY THEM WITHOUT
ANY DEFORMATION.
• KEVLAR - WHOLLY AROMATIC FIBERS - RESISTANT TO CHEMICALS, ARE
THERMALLY STABLE, AND HAVE A HIGH MECHANICAL STABILITY, MELTING
POINT, AND GLASS TRANSITIONAL TEMPERATURE.

• THEY ALSO HAVE PLEATED STRUCTURE (MOLECULES ARE RADIALLY

ARRANGED IN THE FORM OF SHEETS) THAT MAKES KEVLAR WEAK AS FAR
AS FLEXURAL, COMPRESSION, AND ABRASION BEHAVIOR ARE CONCERNED.

• NYLON AND KEVLAR FIBERS – WATER ABSORPTION ABILITY ADVERSELY

AFFECTS ITS HARDNESS.
 CONCLUSION

WITHIN THE LIMITATIONS OF THIS IN VITRO STUDY, THE FOLLOWING

CONCLUSIONS WERE DRAWN –

 DESCENDING ORDER OF FLEXURAL STRENGTH – GLASS-FIBRE MESH >

METAL-MESH > CONTROL GROUP.

 KEVLAR FIBRES > NYLON FIBRES > CONTROL GROUP.

GLASS FIBRE MESH GROUP EXHIBITED HIGHEST HARDNESS COMPARED
TO METAL MESH AND CONTROL GROUPS.

DESCENDING ORDER OF HARDNESS – GLASS FIBRE MESH > METAL-MESH

> CONTROL GROUP.

THE HARDNESS OF KEVLAR FIBERS DECREASED SLIGHTLY COMPARED TO

THAT OF NYLON AND CONTROL GROUP.
 LIMITATIONS

 IT WAS AN IN-VITRO STUDY.

 INCREASE IN THE LENGTH OF FIBERS MAY ALTER THE
FLEXURAL STRENGTH.
 CHANGE IN THE ORIENTATION OF FIBERS ALSO ALTER
THE FLEXURAL STRENGTH.
 THE KEVLAR FIBERS USED IN THIS STUDY COULD NOT BE
USED CLINICALLY BECAUSE OF THEIR YELLOW TINT.
 REFERENCES
• PMMA DENTURE BASE MATERIAL ENHANCEMENT- A REVIEW - MOHAMMED M
GAD-INT. JOURNAL OF NANOMEDICINE.
• FLEXURAL STRENGTH OF HEAT-POLYMERIZED POLYMETHYL METHACRYLATE
DENTURE RESIN REINFORCED WITH GLASS, ARAMID, OR NYLON FIBERS - JACOB
JOHN - THE JOURNAL OF PROSTHETIC DENTISTRY.
• EVALUATION OF THE TENSILE, COMPRESSIVE STRENGTHS AND SURFACE
HARDNESS OF REINFORCED HEAT CURED ACRYLIC RESINS WITH GLASS FIBERS-
IBRAHIM H. ALFAHDAWI- INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE OF
ALKAFEEL UNIVERSITY.