Evaluation of Bond Strength of Acrylic Teeth to Denture Base using Different Polymerization Techniques: A Comparative Study

BACKGROUND Acrylic teeth have long been used in the treatment of a complete denture. One of the primary advantages of acrylic teeth is their ability to adhesively bond to the denture base resins. Although the bonding seems satisfactory, however, bond failures at the acrylic teeth and denture base resin interface are still a common clinical problem in prosthodontics. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the bond strength of acrylic teeth to denture base using different polymerizing techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS Acrylic resin teeth were bonded to heat cure acrylic resin and were polymerized by conventional water bath and microwave energy. The samples are then retrieved from the flask; trimmed and polished. The samples were then subjected to tensile forces till failure by using the Instron Universal testing machine. The machine used a direct pull on the incisal portion of the lingual surface in a labial direction at a height above the denture base resin bar with a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. RESULTS In the present study, it was found that conventionally cured specimens exhibited higher bond strength than microwave cured specimens and majority of fractures occur within the body of the tooth. It was found that debonding occurs within the body of the tooth rather than tooth acrylic interface, so there is no need of surface treatment of ridge lap surface. CONCLUSION Conventionally cured specimens possess statistically higher bond strength than microwave cured specimens.