ACRYLIC RESIN REINFORCED WITH CHOPPED HIGH-PERFORMANCE POLYETHYLENE FIBER - PROPERTIES AND DENTURE CONSTRUCTION

A newly developed incremental mixing technique has been used to incorporate over 30 vol % chopped high performance polyethylene fiber into acrylic denture base resin. The reinforcement produced a substantial improvement in several clinically important properties, namely: 1) stiffness and impact strength were higher; 2) the mechanical properties were insensitive to notches that mimic anatomical features; and 3) samples damaged during bending and impact did not break up into separate fragments. Reinforced complete maxillary and mandibular dentures of good esthetic appearance were successfully manufactured and polished with conventional laboratory techniques.