The effect of mechanical and chemical polishing techniques on the surface roughness of heat-polymerized and visible light-polymerized acrylic denture base resins.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of mechanical polishing (MP) and chemical polishing (CP) on the average surface roughness (Ra) of heat-cured (HC) and light-cured (LC) denture base acrylic resins. METHODS A total of 120 specimens (30 × 15 × 3 mm) were prepared from one HC and one LC acrylic resin. To remove nodules and gross surface irregularities, all specimens were finished with a lathe-mounted small acrylic bur and 360-grit sandpaper. Ten finished specimens of each acrylic resin were randomly assigned to each of six polishing techniques: Resilit High-luster Polishing Liquid (RHPL), Universal Polishing Paste, Abraso-star K50, pumice, Jet Seal Liquid, or Acrypoint. MP was performed with an automatic polishing machine for 2 min, under 50 rpm and 500 g of load. CP was performed by immersing the HC and LC specimens in preheated methyl methacrylate at 75 ± 1 °C for 10 s. The surface roughness of the acrylic resin specimens was measured with a contact profilometer. The Ra values were analyzed by two-way analysis of variance, post hoc Scheffe's test, and paired t-test (p ⩽ 0.05). Polished and tested acrylic resin surfaces were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS MP was more effective than CP. The smoothest surface was obtained with the use of the RHPL on the LC (0.05 ± 0.01 μm) or HC (0.07 ± 0.01 μm) acrylic resin. Two-way ANOVA showed a statistically significant difference between MP and CP. CONCLUSIONS MP produced the smoothest surface of denture base acrylic resin. The mean surface roughness values after MP and CP were not influenced by the type of acrylic resin.