Abstract
Objective Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the most widely used materials in three-dimensional
(3D) printing technology due to its multiple advantages such as biocompatibility and
biodegradable. However, there is still a lack of study on 3D printing PLA for use
as a denture base material. The goal of this study was to compare 3D printing PLA
to traditional poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as a denture basis.
Materials and Methods The PMMA (M) and PLA (L) specimens were fabricated by compression molding, and fuse
deposition modeling technique, respectively. Each specimen group was divided into
three different temperature groups of 25°C (25), 37°C (37), and 55°C (55). The glass
transition temperature (Tg) of raw materials and specimen was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry.
The heat deflection temperature (HDT) of each material was also observed.
Statistical Analysis The data of flexural strength and flexural modulus were analyzed with two-way analysis
of variance, and Tukey honestly significant difference. The Tg and HDT data, on the other hand, were descriptively analyzed.
Results The results showed that PLA had lower flexural strength than PMMA in all temperature
conditions, while the PMMA 25°C (M25) and PMMA 37°C (M37) obtained the highest mean
values. PLA 25°C (L25) and PLA 37°C (L37) had significant higher flexural modulus
than the other groups. However, the flexural properties of L55 could not be observed,
which may be explained by Tg and HDT of PLA.
Conclusion PLA only meets the flexural modulus requirement, although it was greater than flexural
modulus of PMMA. On the other hand, PMMA can meet both good flexural strength and
modulus requirement. However, increase in temperature could reduce flexural strength
and flexural modulus of PMMA and PLA.
Keywords
denture base - flexural modulus - flexural strength - fuse deposition modeling - temperature
