Fracture toughness, work of fracture, flexural strength and elastic modulus of 3D-printed denture base resins in two measurement environments after artificial aging.

Objectives: To investigate the fracture toughness (K), work of fracture (WOF), flexural strength (FS) and elastic modulus (E) of four additively manufactured denture base resins in two different measurement environments after artificial aging.

Methods: Rectangular specimens in two different dimensions (n = 480) were 3D-printed with four denture base resins: Denture 3D+ (DEN; NextDent), Fotodent Denture (FOT; Dreve ProDiMed), Freeprint Denture (FRE; Detax), V-Print dentbase (VPR; VOCO)). K, WOF, FS and E were measured after (1) water-storage (37 °C; K = 7 d; FS = 50 h); (2) water-storage + hydrothermal-aging (20 min, 0.2 MPa, 134 °C); (3) water storage + thermocycling (10,000 cycles, 5/55 °C) in two measurement environments (i) air-23 °C and (ii) water-37 °C. For FS, fracture types were classified, and relative frequencies determined. Univariate ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U, and Spearman's correlation were calculated (p < 0.05, SPSS V.27.0). Weibull modulus (m) was calculated using the maximum likelihood estimation method.

Results: DEN showed the highest K (5/6 groups), WOF and highest corresponding m (1/6 groups), while FRE presented the highest FS (2/6 groups) and E values. Hydrothermal-aging and thermocycling reduced K and WOF, FS and E, and the number of FS fracture pieces. For 6/8 groups, hydrothermal aging resulted in lower FS than thermocycling. Measurement in air-23 °C led to higher FS for 7/12 groups and a more brittle fracture behavior. A positive correlation between K and FS was observed.

Significance: With measurements in air-23 °C resulting in higher FS than reported in water-37 °C, the measurement environment should be adapted to the clinical situation to allow valid predictions on the mechanical behavior of denture base resins when in situ.