The synergy between dentistry and informatics has allowed the emergence of new technologies, specifically 3D printing, which has led to the development of new materials. The aim of this research was to compare the mechanical properties of dental base resins for 3D printing with conventional ones. This systematic review was developed using the PRISMA guidelines, and the electronic literature search was performed with the PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science—MEDLINE and EMBASE databases, until 30 April 2022. Two researchers selected the studies independently, and thus eight articles were found eligible for analysis. A meta-analysis was developed to estimate flexural strength. The Cohen’s kappa corresponding to this review was 1.00, and the risk assessment was considered low for the included studies. The 3D printing resin presented lower values of flexural strength and hardness compared with the heat-cured resin. Regarding impact strength, a lower value was recorded for the heat-cured resin compared with the 3D printing resin. Three-dimensional printing resins are viable materials for making prosthetic bases but need further clinical research.

The present study aimed to test, in vitro, the antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans and the surface roughness of a 3D-printed polymethylmethacrylate dental resin enhanced with graphene. A 3D-printed polymethylmethacrylate dental resin was reinforced with four different concentrations of graphene: 0.01, 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 wt%. Neat resin was used as a control. The specimens were printed in a liquid crystal display printer. Disc specimens were used in antimicrobial evaluation, and bar-shaped specimens were used to measure surface roughness. The study of antimicrobial activity included the inhibition of the growth of C. albicans and S. mutans and their adhesion to the resin’s surface. Surface roughness increased with the increase in the graphene concentration. The growth inhibition of C. albicans was observed in the different concentrations of graphene after 24 h, with no recovery after 48 h. The specimens doped with graphene were capable of inactivating S. mutans after 48 h. The surface-adhesion studies showed that the density of microbial biofilms decreases in the case of specimens doped with graphene. Graphene, despite increasing the resin’s surface roughness, was effective in inhibiting the growth and the adhesion to the resin’s surface of the main inducers of prosthetic stomatitis.

This investigation aims to determine the effect of the same polishing protocol on the surface roughness (Ra) of different resins obtained by different processing techniques. Acrylic resins obtained by CAD/CAM technology overcame the disadvantages identified in conventional materials. A total of thirty samples (six of each resin): self-cured, heat-polymerized, injection molded, CAD/CAM 3D-printed and CAD/CAM milled were prepared. JOTA^® Kit 1877 DENTUR POLISH was used to polish the samples by two techniques: manual and mechanized, with a prototype for guided polishing exclusively developed for this investigation. The Ra was measured by a profilometer. The values were analyzed using ANOVA, Games–Howell post-hoc test and One-sample t-test, with p < 0.05. Manual polishing produces lower values of Ra compared to mechanized polishing, except for injected molded resins (p = 0.713). Manual polishing reveals significant differences between the resin pairs milling/3D-printing (p = 0.012) and thermopolymerizable/milling (p = 0.024). In the mechanized technique only, significant differences regarding the R_a values were found between the self-cured/3D-printed (p = 0.004) and self-cured/thermopolymerizable pair resins (p = 0.004). Differences in surface roughness values can be attributed to the inherent characteristics of the resin and the respective processing techniques.

Objectives: Commercial photocurable polymers used in dental additive manufacturing still have mechanical limitations. The incorporation of graphene may provide interesting advantages in this field. This study aimed to evaluate in vitro the effect of adding graphene nanoparticles to a 3D-printed polymethylmethacrylate dental resin in terms of surface roughness, flexural properties, and hardness. Methods: A 3D-printed dental resin (Dental Sand, Harz Lab) was loaded with four different graphene nanoplatelet (Graphenest) concentrations: 0.01wt%, 0.1wt%, 0.25wt%, and 0.5wt%. The neat resin was used as the control group. The surface roughness was measured with a contact profilometer using bar-shaped specimens (50x10x4mm). The flexural strength of specimens (80x10x4mm) from each group was calculated using the 3-point bending test in a Universal Test Machine. Hardness shore D was measured using a manual durometer on round-shaped specimens (12x6mm). Data were evaluated using the Kruskall-Wallis test followed by post-hoc Bonferroni corrected pairwise inter-group comparisons. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Graphene improved 3D-printed PMMA resin hardness with statistical significance at a concentration of 0.01wt% (p=0.043). Surface roughness increased with graphene concentrations above 0.01wt%, with statistically significant differences at 0.25wt% (p=0.006) and 0.5wt% (p=0.005) concentrations. Flexural properties worsened with increased graphene concentrations, and these differences were significant in the concentrations of 0.25wt% (p=0.028) and 0.5wt% (p=0.006). Conclusions: The use of graphene as a mechanical reinforcement nanomaterial seems to be viable at low concentrations without prejudice to the surface roughness of a 3D-printed polymethylmethacrylate resin.

(1) Introduction: Apart from the polishing method, conventional or mechanized, the arithmetic mean roughness (Ra) is the most common metric to evaluate the surface roughness of denture base acrylic resins. An overview of the constraints related to this roughness parameter is highlighted in this study. This research introduces new parameters for accessing a functional analysis of surface roughness. (2) Materials and Methods: Five samples of CAD/CAM 3D-printed acrylic resins were prepared. Two polishing techniques, manual and mechanical, were applied. Surface roughness parameters were extracted from a profilometer reading: arithmetic mean height (Ra and Pa), skewness (Rsk and Psk), and kurtosis (Rku and Pku). (3) Results: Significant differences (p < 0.001) were found in the Ra distribution among the study samples, in contrast with the lack of significance in Pa values. Surface roughness parameters revealed an increased coefficient of variance (CV) value due to mechanized polishing across the specimens analyzed. Skewness and kurtosis indicate a more pronounced distribution with the manual polishing technique. (4) Conclusion: This preliminary study exhibits the influence of different polishing protocols on surface roughness parameters. The primary profile, skewness, and kurtosis should be assessed for the surface characterization of acrylic resins.

Introduction: Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) is the most widely used denture base material due to its favourable properties. Several studies have tested the incorporation of anti-infective agents into PMMA as a strategy to prevent biofilm growth on the denture surface. This systematic review aims to evaluate the efficacy of incorporating inorganic antimicrobial particles into denture base resins in preventing antimicrobial growth, thereby identifying the most effective agents for enhancing PMMA’s antimicrobial properties. Materials and methods: This systematic review followed the PRISMA guidelines, and the research protocol was registered in PROSPERO. The search was performed by using Medical Subject Headings and free text combined with Boolean operators in PubMed/Medline^® and in Cochrane^® and a free text combination in Web of Science^® Core Collection. Data regarding the inorganic particles studied, their antimicrobial effect, and the type of samples produced were collected and analysed. Results: After screening, a total of fifteen studies were included in this review. Most samples were disk-shaped and of varying sizes, and the most tested microbial strain was Candida albicans. Silver was the most used antimicrobial particle, followed by gold, titanium, and copper. Conclusions: Overall, incorporating inorganic particles into PMMA has produced promising antimicrobial results, depending on the concentration. Due to the high heterogeneity observed in the samples, more studies are recommended, particularly clinical trials.