Fracture mode and load to failure of monolithic and bi-layer denture systems

Capt Austin M. Tyler, DDS, Resident; Lt Col Aaron B. Harding, DMD, MS, Associate Professor

Prosthodontics Residency, JBSA-Lackland, TX Ÿ Air Force Postgraduate Dental School, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Postgraduate Dental College

INTRODUCTION

Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) has been widely used for complete dentures due to several favorable properties.1 Those properties have been improved further through the development of pre-polymerized PMMA pucks, used in CAD/CAM dentistry to mill dentures.2 A persistent weakness of dentures has been the bond between denture teeth and denture base. In recent years, manufacturers have developed monolithic PMMA pucks, which incorporate both tooth-colored resin and gingiva-colored resin within the same puck.3 The purpose of this study was to evaluate the fracture modes and ultimate failure strength of dentures fabricated from four different methods.