Reinforcing effect of glass fiber-reinforced composite reinforcement on flexural strength at proportional limit of a repaired denture base resin

Objective: This study evaluated the reinforcing effect of glass fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) reinforcement on flexural strength at the proportional limit (FS-PL) of a repaired denture base resin. Materials and methods: Repaired denture base resins reinforced with metal and with FRC reinforcement, and that without reinforcement were tested. The ultimate flexural strength, the FS-PL and the elastic modulus of repaired denture base resins were tested. The joint efficiency (times) of the repaired denture base resins on the intact denture base resin was evaluated. Results: The repaired denture base resins reinforced with metal reinforcement and with FRC reinforcement had significantly higher ultimate flexural strength than the repaired denture base resin without reinforcement (p < 0.05) and were not significantly different from each other (p > 0.05). The FS-PL of a repaired denture base resin reinforced with the FRC reinforcement was similar to that with the metal reinforcement (p > 0.05), and these were significantly higher than the FS-PL of a repaired denture base resin without reinforcement (p < 0.05). The elastic modulus of the repaired denture base resin reinforced with the FRC reinforcement was significantly lower than that with metal reinforcement (p < 0.05) and was significantly higher than that without reinforcement (p < 0.05). The joint efficiency of the FRC reinforced specimen was 0.98. Conclusion: The FRC reinforcement had a reinforcing effect on the FS-PL of a repaired denture base resin.