Effect of denture base surface pretreatment on microleakage of a silicone-based resilient liner

Microleakage between resilient liner and denture base resins is a significant clinical problem, often responsible for debonding of the resilient liner from the denture base resin.

This study investigated the effect of 2 surface treatments, airborne-particle abrasion (APA) and wetting with methyl methacrylate monomer (MMA), on microleakage between a silicone-based resilient liner and denture base resin using a gamma camera imaging technique.

Thirty-three specimens, each having 2 plates measuring 40 x 40 x 2 mm, were prepared by packing and processing an acrylic denture base resin (QC-20) into square plates following manufacturer's instructions. Specimens were divided into 3 groups (n=11) as APA-, MMA-, and control-treatment groups. For the APA group, the inner surfaces of both plates were airborne-particle abraded with 250-microm Al 2 O 3 particles and, for the MMA group, surfaces were treated with monomer (QC-20). Control specimens were not surface treated. Following application of an adhesive (Ufi Gel P-specific), a silicone lining material (Ufi Gel P) was prepared and applied to the inner surfaces of all 33 specimens. Eleven size-matched polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) specimen blocks (40 x 40 x 6 mm) were prepared to calculate the level of residual radioactivity for the denture base itself, the entire outer surface count (OSC). All specimens and PMMA blocks were immersed in a radioactive solution (thallium-201 chloride) for 24 hours. Specimen activities (gamma-ray cts/sec, representing thallium-201 concentration) were then measured using a high-resolution gamma camera. The amount of OSC-subtracted total specimen counts was a direct indicator of the quantity of inward diffusing tracer. The subtracted values were analyzed using a 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni multiple comparison tests (alpha=.05).

OSC levels averaged 754 +/- 110 gamma-ray cts/sec. OSC-subtracted APA, control, and MMA values were 5,546 +/- 1,534, 3,392 +/- 738, and 1,405 +/- 392 gamma-ray cts/sec, respectively. All 3 groups were significantly different ( P <.05) from each other. Surface wetting with MMA showed the lowest microleakage values among all specimen groups.

In terms of microleakage, surface treatment with MMA monomer preceding the adhesive application demonstrated lower values than adhesive application alone. APA pretreatment resulted in 4 times the microleakage found in MMA-treated specimens, and 1.5 times the microleakage of the untreated control. None of the surface pretreatments completely prevented microleakage. Microleakage between the silicone-based resilient liner and denture base resin can be quantitatively determined using the gamma camera imaging technique.