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Updated: Oct 27, 2026
Impact of Fabrication Techniques and Polishing Procedures on Surface Roughness of Denture Base Resins
Published on: January 17, 2025
Comparative Evaluation of Effect of Surface Roughness on Microbial Adhesion to Milled, 3D-Printed, and Conventional
Jinsha Maji K1, Sheejith M1, Nivea Francis T1
1Department of Prosthodontics and Crown and Bridge KMCT Dental College Kozhikode Kerala India.
Purpose:
This study investigates how surface roughness influences Candida albicans adhesion to denture base resins fabricated using milling, 3D printing, and heat polymerization.
Materials And Methods:
Sixty polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) disc specimens (10 mm diameter, 2 mm thickness) were prepared using three techniques: conventional heat-cured PMMA, stereolithography (SLA)-based 3D printing, and computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) milling (n = 20 per group). Surface roughness (Ra, µm) was recorded using a contact profilometer at three points per specimen. C. albicans adherence was evaluated by applying a standardized fungal suspension and counting colony-forming units (CFUs) after 24 h of incubation. Specimens were fixed in 3% glutaraldehyde and dehydrated in graded ethanol. Data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation and analyzed via one-way ANOVA, with significance set at p ≤ 0.05.
Results:
3D-printed PMMA showed the highest roughness (Ra = 1.83 ± 0.428 µm), followed by conventional PMMA (Ra = 0.71 ± 0.111 µm), while milled PMMA had the lowest (Ra = 0.37 ± 0.060 µm). Differences were statistically significant (p = 0.001). Similarly, C. albicans adhesion was highest on 3D-printed PMMA (1321.5 ± 271.05 CFU/mL), followed by conventional PMMA (903.75 ± 70.02 CFU/mL), and lowest on milled PMMA (372.7 ± 184.50 CFU/mL), with significant intergroup differences (p = 0.001). Post hoc LSD tests confirmed significance in all pairwise comparisons (p < 0.05). These results suggest smoother surfaces-particularly from CAD-CAM milling-reduce microbial colonization.
Conclusion:
Fabrication method significantly influences C. albicans adhesion. CAD-CAM milled PMMA demonstrated the least adherence due to its smoother surface, while 3D-printed PMMA showed the highest due to surface irregularities. Surface roughness plays a crucial role, and CAD-CAM milling appears most effective in minimizing fungal infection risk.
