Effect of location of glass fiber-reinforced composite reinforcement on the flexural properties of a maxillary complete denture in vitro.

Objective. To evaluate the effect of the location of glass fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) reinforcement on the flexural load at the proportional limit (FL-PL) and the flexural deflection of a maxillary acrylic resin complete denture. Material and methods. Maxillary acrylic resin complete dentures strengthened with and without FRC reinforcement were tested. The polymerized FRC was embedded in the denture base resin in the doughy state and placed (1) under the ridge lap region, (2) in the anterior region, (3) in the middle region or (4) in the anterior and posterior regions. The FL-PL and flexural deflection value at the 100-N loading point of the reinforced maxillary denture specimens were tested. Results. All of the reinforced dentures had a higher FL-PL than the denture without reinforcement but the FL-PL values of all the dentures were not significantly different from each other. The efficiency of the FRC reinforcement compared to the unreinforced denture was 1.54-1.75 times greater. All of the reinforced dentures showed significantly lower deflection compared to the unreinforced denture, but the flexural deflections of all the dentures were not significantly different from each other. Conclusions. The location of the FRC reinforcement did not affect the fracture resistance of the maxillary acrylic resin complete denture. All of the reinforced dentures had higher FL-PL and lower flexural deflection than the denture without reinforcement.