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Conversion in denture base polymers
Journal of Biomedical Materials Research
|September 1, 1982
Summary
Heat-cured denture bases show lower residual monomers and higher gel fractions, indicating poly(methyl methacrylate) incorporation. Auto-cured materials vary, with pour-type materials showing direct correlation between gel fraction and reacted monomers.
Area of Science:
- Dental Materials Science
- Polymer Chemistry
Background:
- Denture base materials are crucial for oral prosthetics.
- Understanding polymerization byproducts is essential for material safety and performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify residual monomers, gel fraction, and unreacted dimethacrylate groups in different denture base materials.
- To compare heat-polymerized and auto-polymerized conventional and pour-type materials.
Main Methods:
- High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) for residual monomer analysis.
- Gravimetric analysis for determining the insoluble gel fraction.
- Infrared (IR) spectrometry for quantifying pendant methacrylate groups.
Main Results:
- Heat-polymerized materials exhibited the lowest residual monomer content.
- Gel fraction size correlated with the crosslinking agent concentration.
- Heat-polymerized materials showed higher gel fractions than expected from reacted monomers, suggesting poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) incorporation.
- Auto-polymerized pour-type materials had gel fractions matching reacted monomer quantities.
Conclusions:
- Polymerization method significantly impacts residual monomer levels and network structure in denture bases.
- Heat polymerization leads to a more crosslinked network, potentially incorporating linear PMMA.
- Conventional auto-polymerized materials present an intermediate network structure compared to pour-type and heat-polymerized materials.