Flexural Strength of Heat-Polymerized Acrylic Resin After Isotonic Drink Immersion

Abstract

Hot polymerized acrylic resin is the most commonly used denture base material because it has good aesthetics and is economical. However, acrylic resin has low flexural strength so it is easily broken if dropped. One factor that affects flexural strength is the food and drink consumed. Consuming acidic drinks continuously for a long period can cause a decrease in quality. One of these drinks is isotonic drinks. Isotonic drinks have a pH between 2.4 and 4.5. This content has a high solubility level, which causes the denture base to weaken in withstanding chewing loads and breaks. This study aimed to determine the effect of isotonic drinks on the flexural strength of hot polymerized acrylic resin.  This study is an experimental laboratory study with twelve acrylic samples (64 × 10 × 3.3 mm) were prepared according to ISO 20795-1:2013 and divided into two groups (n = 6): one immersed in aquabidest (control) and one in an isotonic drink (pocari Sweat) for 5 days. These results the mean flexural strength of the control group was 138.83 ± 6.39 MPa, while that of the isotonic group was 126.89 ± 9.36 MPa, with a significant difference (p = 0.027).  Immersion in isotonic drinks significantly reduced the flexural strength of hot polymerized acrylic resin denture bases