Evaluation of the viscoelastic properties of denture soft lining materials

Denture soft lining materials are widely used in prosthetic dentistry. Their success has been attributed to their softness and resilience, properties described by their viscoelasticity. Though these properties have been extensively investigated in laboratory studies, clinical studies have been limited. The viscoelastic properties of the temporary soft lining material Coe Soft and the permanent soft lining materials Palasiv 62 and Molloplast-B have been studied using a force/distance probe whereby penetration was measured against time under constant stress. Derived values of an initial and time-dependent compliance has allowed a quantitative in vivo and in vitro assessment of freshly prepared samples of each test material and comparison between materials. The baseline behaviour of each test material in response to the test regimen was similar for both clinical and laboratory specimens. Three types of behaviour could be identified: (i) constant strain in which penetration was clearly less than specimen thickness--elastic behaviour (Molloplast-B); (ii) constant strain in which the penetration was equal or nearly equal to specimen thickness--apparent elastic behaviour (Coe Soft); (iii) strain which increased with time of load application--viscoelastic behaviour (Palasiv 62). The mean and range of baseline clinical thickness for Coe Soft was approximately half that seen for the permanent soft lining materials. There was a much smaller range in the baseline compliance of all materials than might have been anticipated from a knowledge of their relative softness.