Leaching from denture base materials in vitro

Specimens made from denture base materials were leached in Ringer solution and in ethanol. The specimens comprised a heat-cured product processed in two different ways and two cold-cured materials. The organic compounds leaching from the specimens to the solutions were separated, identified, and quantified by a combined gas-chromatography and gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry technique. Additives and degradation products, possibly made by free radical reactions, were released from the denture base materials. In Ringer solution only phthalates could be quantified. In ethanol solvent, biphenyl, dibutyl phthalate, dicyclohexyl phthalate, phenyl benzoate, and phenyl salicylate were quantified. In addition, copper was found in the ethanol solvent from one of the denture base materials. The amount of leachable organic compounds varies among different materials. Processing temperature influences the initial amount of leachable compounds.