Influence of Light-Curing Glaze and Chlorhexidine Gluconate in the Acrylic Resin Properties: An in situ Study

This in-situ study aimed to evaluate the chromatic stability, microhardness, and surfacefree energy of chemically activated acrylic resin (CAAR) samples. Eighty CAAR samples were made and each volunteer (n = 20) received two palatal plates with two sides of groups (without and with glaze application). The samples were exposed to two conditions: the control condition (sucrose 30%) and the test condition (sucrose 30% and 0.12% chlorhexidine). The volunteers used the first palatal device (control condition) for seven days and the second palatal device (test condition) for another seven days, with a seven-day break between them. Then, the ΔΕ00, microhardness, and surface-free energy tests were performed. Analysis of Variance and the Tukey test were used (α = 0.05). The control group with glaze showed higher ΔΕ00 compared to the group without the glaze. The test group with glaze had less ΔΕ00 than their respective controls. In both periods, when the glaze was applied, higher microhardness values were found for all groups. Groups with glaze showed lower roughness and higher surface-free energy than groups without the glaze. The values obtained in this study were satisfactory, showing the clinical efficacy of glaze and the use of 0.12% CH for maintaining the physical and mechanical properties of CAAR.