Effect of polymerization methods on the residual monomer level of acrylic resin denture base polymers

Wearing dental acrylic prosthesis causes adverse reactions to oral tissues due to bioactive leachables from resins such as residual methyl methacrylate (MMA). The aim of this study is to apply the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method to quantify and compare the amount of MMA monomers released from denture base resin polymers processed by the conventional compression molding method (Paladent), microwave polymerization (Acron MC), and injection molding technique (PalaXpress). Six specimens of 10 +/- 0.2 mm in diameter and 2.0 +/- 0.2 mm in thickness of each material were prepared according to manufacturer's instructions. Specimens were stored in nanopure water at room temperature (23 +/- 2 degrees C) for 4 hr, 48 hr, 8 days, and 15 days separately. Residual MMA released into water was determined with HPLC for all time intervals. Data for all time intervals were analyzed among each group using the Friedman test and differences were found to be statistically significant for all time intervals for Acron MC, Paladent, and PalaXpress (p > 0.05). Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare changes of residual MMA within time intervals among denture base resin groups and statistically significant differences were found between all time intervals (p > 0.05). Acron MC exhibited significantly lower residual MMA leach compared both to Paladent and PalaXpress, and Paladent showed more residual MMA leach compared to PalaXpress. Residual MMA leach for Acron MC, PalaXpress, and Paladent showed statistically significant leach in the first 48 hr of immersion in water followed by gradual longer-lasting moderate increase until the 15 day interval which was not statistically significant (p < 0.05). Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.