The Effect of Chopped

Poly(methyl methacrylate) Fibers

on Some Properties of Acrylic
Resin Denture Base Material

Daryll C. Jagger, BDS, MSc, FDS RCS'

Alan Harrison, TD, BDS, PhD, FDS Res'"

Purpose; The fracture of acrylic resin dentures remains an unresolved prohleni. Over the
years, various approaches to strengthening acrylic resin have been suggested, including
modifying or reinforcing the resin. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of
chopped pofylmetliyl methacrylate] (PMMA) fibers on some properties of acrylic resin
denture base materidi. Materials and Methods: PMMA in the form of fibers 0,75 mm in
diameter and 5 mm in length was added to acrylic resin denture base material in various
percentages to form a composite material. The influence on doughing and manipulation
times and transverse strength was examined. The results were subjected to statistical
analysis using a one-way analysis of variance and, where appropriate, the Scheff test.
Results: The results showed that the doughing time was decreased by the addition of
fibers, with the manipulation and setting times showing inconsistent changes. There was
a significant difference between the materials in terms of the transverse strength. When
the amount of PMMA fibers in the acrylic resin was increased, there was a decrease in
the modulus of rupture and a decrease in (he modulus of elasticity. The differences were
shown to be statistically significant in some groups. Conclusion: The doughing time was
decreased by the addition of fibers, while the manipulation and setting times showed
inconsistent changes. The incorporation of chopped, randomly oriented PMMA fibers
into acrylic resin had no advantage over the unmodified polymer in terms of strength and
cannot be recommended as a reinforcing agent for acrylic resin denture base material,
IntJ Prosthodont 1999:12:542-546.

Over the years, various approaches to strengthening

acrylic resin have been suggested, including modifying or reinforcing the resin. Strengthening has been approached through chemical modification to produce
graft copolymers of rubber methacrylate, referred to as
high-impact resins,^ or by incorporating various metal
forms" and several types of fibers to provide reinforcement of fiacture-prone areas. Several types of
fibers in varying forms (chopped, woven, and linear),
random or oriented, have been added to acrylic denture resins to improve their physical and mechanical
properties. Reinforcement has been achieved through
the inclusion of polyaramid fibers,^^ sapphire
whiskers,'' and carbon,"'-' In recent years, the inclusion
of glass fibers'""'- and oriented or woven ultrahighmodulus polyethylene fibers'^"'^ has produced encouraging results; however, the extra laboratory
steps'^''" coupled with the additional time required
have limited their use. The incorporation of high-modulus polyethylene beads did not have a significant effect on the mechanical properties of the

he material most commonly used in the construction of dentures is polylmethyl methacrylate)

(PMMA), and although few would dispute that satisfactory esthetics can beachieved with this material, in
terms of mechanical properties it is still far from ideal.
The fracture of acrylic resin dentures remains an unresolved prohlem that may result from impact failure,
for example dropping the denture accidentally, or
fiom fatigue failure caused by repeated flexing under
masticatory forces. Several studies have investigated
the prevalence and types of denture fractures,''^

'Lecturer, Restorative Dentistry, Department of Oral and Dental

Science, Bristol Dental School and Hospital, Bristol, UK.
Professor and Head, Department of Orai and Dentai Science,
Bristol Denial School and Hospital, Bristol, UK.
Reprint requests: Dr D. C. /agger, Department of Oral and Dentai
Science, Division of Restorative Dentistry fProsthodontics), Bristol
Dental School and Hospitai, Lower Maudlin Street, Bristol BSi 2LY,
United Kingdom, e-mail:
D.C.lagger@bris.ac.uk

The tntcrnational lournai ol Prot

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Volume 1 2, Number &,

laagerflHarrison

Efecl of PMMA Fihers on Acryiic Resin Denture Base Mate

Table 1 Materials Used in the Study

Many attempts to strengthen acrylic resin have failed

because areas of stress concentration occur around embedded materiais, and the overall effect is to weaken
rather than strengthen the denture base. Various suggestions have been made to improve the interface between the denture base material and the reinforcing
material, such as sandblasting,'^ silanization,''' the
use of metal-adhesive resins,^" and plasma treatment,^'
but failure at the interface remains a problem.
The physical compatibility of fiber and matrix is an
important factor in the success of fiber-reinforced composites. The concept of self-reinforcement of polymers has been discussed,--"-"' although to date not in
the dental literature. PMMA is a thermoplastic material and it is possible to impart molecular orientation into
the polymer by thermomechanical processing. The
highly oriented molecules impart improved strength
characteristics over the randomly oriented and entangled polymer chains. The potential advantage of selfreinforced composite materials is that they should
have improved mechanical properties over the amorphous random polymer. This study investigated the
self-reinforcement of PMMA denture base resin.
The aim of this study was to investigate the eftect
of chopped PMMA fibers on some properties of
acrylic resin denture base material. The properties investigated were the doughing, manipulation, and setting times ofthe material, and its flexural strength. In
this study, the fibers were incorporated into the acrylic
resin polymer powder so that conventional curing
and packing procedures could be used to avoid problems relating to fiber orientation.

Material

Manufacturer

Description

Trevalon Polymer

Dentsply

Trevalon Mcncmer

Dentsply

Heat-cured PMMA
I
powder (93%)
*
BenzoyI peroxide
(0.4%)
tVlMA monomer
Ethylenegl/col
Dimetfiacrylate (6%)
Hydroquinone (0.006%)
Highly drawn PMMA j .
tibers
,;

0.75-mm PMi A fibers

in 5-mm lengths
PMMA = poly(methyl msthacrylate)

7O''Cand 3 hours at lOO^C. The flasks were allowed

to bench cool before opening. The cured plates were
carefully removed from the mold, the excess flash
was removed, and the specimens were finished using
a Kemet polishing machine with wet, self-adhesive,
waterproof silicon carbide paper discs of 203-mm diameter and 320- and 600-A grit size. Each plate was
of sufficient size to be cut into four specimens using
a band saw. The specimens were then returned to the
polishing machine and carefully finished to dimensions of 64 mm X 10 mm x 2.5 mm as specified by
the International Standards Organization (ISO) and
British Standards Institution (BSI) specification for the
testing of denture base resins.-^'^^ Ten specimens
from each group were prepared and stored in a water
bath at 37 2C for 7 days.
The transverse bend test was carried out using a
Lloyd's Instrument Material Testing Machine, model
L2000R using the 3-point method. The test rig is described in BSI specification BS 2487,-^ The test rig
consisted of a loading wedge and a pair of supporting wedges placed 50 mm apart, which represents the
average intermolar distance of a denture. Each test
specimen was centered on the testing rig so that the
loading wedge, set to move at a speed of 5 mm/min,
engaged the center of the upper surface of the specimen until the specimen broke. The specimens were
tested in a water bath at 37 f C . Moduli of rupture
and elasticity were recorded.

Materials and Methods

The materials used in this study are listed in Table 1.
The .75-mm-diameter PMMA fibers were supplied
in precut 5-mm lengths. The short fiber length represented a convenient size for manipulation and inclusion in the acrylic resin dough. The percentages
of fibers used were 0, 5, 15, 20, and 25% by weight.
Transverse Bend Test

Packing Plasticity Test

A series of polymerized blanks was produced by

mixing 24 g of polymer, which included the appropriate percentage of fibers, with 10 mL of methyl
methacrylate monomer. The mixture was left to stand
in a plastic mixing vessel. The mixing procedure
lasted 60 seconds each time and the mix was allowed to reach the dough stage prior to loading into
a gypsum mold in a dental flask. Molds were prepared
by investing master perspex blanks in SYPSLrnFollowing a trial closure, the blanks were cured in
a thermostatical ly control led water bath for 7 hours at

Volume 12, Number 6, 1999

For the evaluation of the flow behavior of the powder/liquid mixtures, a packing plasticity test was performed using samples from each powder mix. Each
sample was made of 24 g of polymer (which includes
the appropriate percentage of fibers) with 10 mL of
monomer. Three samples from each powder mix were
tested and the doughing, manipulation, and setting
times for each group were calculated. The packing
plasticity was performed using a needle penetrometer.

543

Tlie International |ou

Efiecl of PMMA Fibers on Acryiic Resin DeiiLure B.ise Material

lagger/iHarrison
Ffg 1 Effect o the addition ot
PMMA fibers (Q.7S-mm diarrieter, 5-mm length) on the (low behavior ot Trevaion i"--ryli<: reSin
denture base rnaieii-si

13121110E
elratio

S.

9-

a7-

\\
\

VV

\ \\

- T

20%

- * -

25%

\\\\
w

6-

V. ^

5-

- . - Controi
- - 5%
-* 15%

V'

4-

3.

2-

^;;:::::^!

0-

1
10

1
20

1
30
Time (min)

ST

40

~T
50

1
60

Fig 2 Etfect of fhe addition of

PMMA fibers (0.75-mm diamefer, 5-mm iength) on fhe doughing, manipulation, and seffing
times of Trevaion acrylic resin
denture base material.

Control
group

i I
6%
group

iDougining lime

15%
group

JManipulation lime

20%
group
|

which has been shown to be an effective method of

measuringdoughing and manipulation times.^''Using
this technique, fhe point at which the penetration decreases sharply (penetration < 10 mm) indicates the beginning of the dough stage ie, doughing time). At a
penetration of < 3 mm the material is not workable and
the setting time is therefore defined as the time from
mixing untii the material becomes rubbery and un-

Tlie Infemalionai Jouniai ol Prostiiodonlics

25%
group
|SeHing time

workable (at the completion of tbe manipulation time).

The manipulation time is the period between doughing (penetration < 10 mm) and setting time (penetration < 3 mm) in which it is possible to manipulate and
pack the dough. The results presented in Figs 1 and 2
and Tables 2 and 3 were subjected to statistical analysis using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)
and, where appropriate, the Scheff test.

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I agger/Harrison

Etfen of PMMA Fibers on Acrylic Resin Denture 8ase Material

Table 2

Results
The results showed that there was a significant difference between the materials in terms of the transverse strength. Increasing the amount of PMMA fibers
in the acrylic resin decreased the modulus of rupture
from 74.0 MPa (control] to 57.1 (25%) (Table 2) and
decreased tbe modulus of elasticity from 1,831 MPa
(control) to 1,617 MPa 125%] (Table 3). The differences were shown to be statistically significant. The
results showed that the manipulation and setting
times (Fig 2] gradually increased as the percentage of
fibers in the acrylic resin powder increased, with the
exception of the addition of 25% fibers.

T
T + 5% F
T * Z0% F
T + 15%F
T + 25%F

No. ot
specimens

Mean transverse
bend strength MPa)

10
9
10
7
10

74.0
72,7
62.9
60,1
57.1

SD
5.95
3.67
7.0Q :i.
10.39
7.45

"One-way ANOVA indicated thai there was a significant difterence between

thegroLpslPOOOOOl).
Vertical bars indicate values llial were not significantly differeni according to tlie Sctieff tesl,
T = Trevalon acrylic resin demure base maleriak F = PMMA fitters (0.75mm diameter, 5-rnm lengtti); SD = standard deviation.

Table 3
Discussion
Material'

Transverse strength is a measure ofthe stiffness and

resistance to fracture. The ISO 1567-= and BSI2487^''
for denture base resins have specified transverse deformation limits of from 1 to 2.5 mm for a force of 15
to 35 N and from 2 to 5 mm for a force of 15 to 50
N. The mean breaking force of acrylic resin should
not be less than 55 N. In this respect the control material and the moditied specimens containing 5%
fibers satisfied the standard.
A one-way ANOVA demonstrated a significant difference in the modulus of rupture between the control specimen and tbe modified specimens. The differences, however, were small, with the control
specimen demonstrating the highest value. The addition of a low percentage of fibers |5%l produced
only a 2% decrease. However, with an increase in the
percentage of fibers (25%], tbere was a 23% reduction in the modulus of rupture,
A one-way ANOVA showed a significant difference
in the modulus of elasticity between the groups. The
difference between tbe highest and lowest values
recorded was 12%. The control material exhibited the
highest modulus of elasticity, in this study, the fibers
were incorporated into the acrylic resin polymer
powder so that conventional curing and packing procedures could be used to avoid problems relating to
fiber orientation. Previous studies on the self-reinforcement of PMMA-- used fibers that were aligned
approximately in the tensile stress direction (continuous fiber unidirectional composites], rather than
the discontinuous, randomly orientated fibers used in
this study. The previous study reported an increase in
ihe tensile strength, tensile modulus, and tensile strain
to failure for self-reinforced composite PMMA compared with conventional PMMA. In unidirectional
form the fibers were assumed to carry the bulk of the
transmitted load, but it is likely that for the discontinuous fibers the load is shared between the fiber and

r 6, 199S

Modulus of Rupture

T + 5% F
T + 30% F
T + 15% F
T + 25% F

Modulus of Elasticity
No.ot
pecimens
10
9
10
7
10

Mean elastic
modulus (MPa)
1831
1801
1737
1701
1617

SD
86
108
39 -,
82
1378

'One-way AhJOVA indicated that there was a significant difterence bBtwaen

lhiegroup(P=0.0001).
Vertical bars indcale i/alues ttiat were not significantly different according to the Sclieff lest,
T = Trevalon acrylic resin denture base material; F = PMMA tibers (0.75mm diameter, 5-mm length]; SD = standard deviation.

the matrix. For the continuous fibers, the increased

toughness was attributed to a number of deformation
mechanisms operating in the samples: increased ductility in the self-reinforced composite PMMA fibers
and at tbe fiber interface, diversion of tbe crack out
ofthe original crack plane by fiber splitting, and fiber
matrix interface failure. Because of differences in
fiber orientation, comparison with the results of
Gilbert et al-^ is inappropriate.
The rhologie properties ofthe PMMA dough will
affect its ability fo flow and can influence the accuracy/quality of the molded denture. Mutlu et a l "
stressed the importance of measuring the flow properties during dough formation and the need for a
knowledge ofthe correct doughing and manipulation
times, because it is important that the dough is packed
during the manipulation stage. The results ofthe packing plasticity test in Figs 1 and 2 show that the doughing time was decreased by the addition of the fibers,
although not significantly (control 7 min, 5% fibers 5
min, 15% fibers 5 min, 20% fibers 6 min, and 25%
fibers 3,5 min. There were similarities between all 5
flow curves (Fig 11. There were significant differences
in the setting times with the addition of the fibers to
the polymer powder, although the changes were inconsistent. The manipulation times ranged from 14.5

545

The Intcrnatianai lournal of Prostliudoniics

Effect of PMMA Eibers on Acrylin Resin Denlure Base Material

I agger/Harrison

min (5% fibers) to 25,5 min (25% fibers). There were

significant differences in the manipulation times, although the differences were inconsistent. In practice,
the manipulation time is the most relevant since it reflects the time available to the dental technician to
pack the resin in the mold(s). An extended manipulation time is therefore essential because it allows
several cases to be packed from a single mix. The manipulation time can be extended by refrigerating the
mix; this technique is used in some laboratories.

10,

Solnit CS, The effect of methyl methacrylate reinforcpmeni with

siiane-treated and untreated glass fibers, | Prosthet Deni 1 '191 ;66:
310-314.
11, Vallittu PK, Comparison of in vitro fatigue resislantf of acrylic
resin partial denture reinforced with continuous L;ISS fibres or
metal wire. I Prosthodont 1996;S:115-121,
12, Valiittu PK. Some aspects of ihe tensile strengths inidirectional
glass fibre poly (methyl methacrylate) composm used in den.
lures, ) Oral Rehabil 1998;25:100-105,
13, Ciarke DA, Ladizesky NH, Chow TW, Acrylic resins reinforced
with highiy drawn linear polyethylene woven fibres. Construction
of upper denture bases, Aust Dent) 1992;37:394-399,
14, Ladizesky NH, Chow TW, Cheng VV. Denture base reinforcement
using woven polyethyiene liber. Inl | Prosthodont 1994;7:
307-314,
15, Gutteridge DL, Reinforcement of poly (methyl methacryiate) with
ultra-high-modulus polyethylene fibre, i Dent 1992;2O:5O-54,
16, CariosB, Harrison A, The effect of untreated UHMWPE beads
on some properties of acrylic resin denture base materiai, J Dent
1997;25:59-64,
1 7. Harrison A, Constan tin id is V, Vowles R, The effect of surface
treated UHMWPE beads on some properties of acrylic denture
basemaieriai, Eur J Prosthodont Restorative Dent 1997;5:39^2,

Conclusions

The incorporation of chopped, randomly oriented

poly(methyl methacrylate) fibers to acrylic resin
had no advantage over the unmodified polymer
in terms of strength, and it cannot be recommended as a reinforcing agent for acrylic resin
denture base material in its present form,
The doughing time was decreased relative to the
control by the addition of fibers, while the manipulation and setting times showed inconsistent
changes.
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9,

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27,

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