• Çakmak, Gülce
• Almogbel, Lolowh
• Li, Rui

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>This in vitro study aimed to compare flexural strength, surface roughness, and biofilm formation of ceramic‐reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) with conventionally heat‐compressed and milled polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) denture base materials.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Materials and Methods</jats:title><jats:p>Thirty strips (6.4 mm × 10 mm × 3 mm) and 30 discs (10 mm × 1 mm) were fabricated from a heat‐compressed PMMA, milled PMMA, and ceramic‐reinforced PEEK, 10 each. One surface of each sample was polished to mimic the laboratory procedure for denture base materials. Strips were then subjected to a three‐point bend test using a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 5.0 mm/min. An optical profilometer was used to assess the Ra value (mm) of the discs on polished and unpolished sides. Biofilm formation behavior was analyzed by measuring the colony‐forming unit (CFU)/mL of <jats:italic>Candida albicans</jats:italic> on the unpolished surface of the discs. One‐way ANOVA followed by Tukey multiple comparison tests were used to compare the flexural strength, Ra value, and biofilm formation of the studied materials (<jats:italic>a</jats:italic> = 0.05).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Ceramic‐reinforced PEEK showed significantly higher flexural strength (178.2 ± 3.2 MPa) than milled PMMA (89.6 ± 0.8 MPa; <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.001) and heat‐compressed PMMA (67.3 ± 5.3 MPa; <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.001). Ceramic‐reinforced PEEK exhibited a significantly higher Ra value than the other groups on unpolished sides; however, the polishing process significantly reduced the Ra values of all studied groups (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.05). There was no significant difference in <jats:italic>C. albicans</jats:italic> adhesion among the groups (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.05).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>The flexural strength of tested materials was within acceptable limits for clinical use as a denture base material. Ceramic‐reinforced PEEK had the highest surface roughness; however, its similarity in biofilm formation to other groups indicates its clinical acceptability as denture base material.</jats:p></jats:sec>

Topics

• surface
• strength
• flexural strength
• forming
• ceramic
• size-exclusion chromatography
• polishing