The effect of high pressure insertion and antibiotic inclusions upon the mechanical properties of polymethylmethacrylate.

The properties of self-curing polymethylmethacrylate as affected by the admixing of an antibiotic to the powder-liquid mixture and as affected by insertion technique demonstrated that the antibiotic agent may leach from the surface of the acrylic, but not necessarily from the interior. The compressive and tensile strength, determined on two different commercial formulations, suggests that the antibiotic additive is not detrimental to the mechanical properties. A high pressure insertion technique produces a significant improvement in the mechanical properties of the self-curing acrylic material.