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Abstract
Infection control has become mandatory in the practice of dentistry as dental health care workers and patients are exposed to a wide variety of microorganisms. These microorganisms may include hepatitis B, C and human immune deficiency viruses. The microscopic surface of the acrylic denture provides a wide range of environment to support these microorganisms, which can threaten the health of physically vulnerable patient. Because Infection control is a routine daily procedure of every dental office, dental professionals must have a current knowledge of denture sterilization strategies in order to maximize the infection control in the service offered to the prosthodontic patients. Consequently, any prosthesis should be sterilized before entering and after completion of the laboratory procedures. Since sterilization of acrylic resin denture base is not possible, because of the high temperature and time needed, the use of chemical disinfecting solution is the method of choice. The presented study was conducted to evaluate the effect of glutaraldehyde sterilization on the hardness and the flexure strength of acrylic resin denture material.
Thirty specimens from a commercial heat cured denture base material were prepared for each test according to the A.D.A specification No.12 for denture base resins. Specimens for each test were divided in two groups. The first group was stored in distilled water for 48 hours (control) and the other one was soaked in glutaraldehyde for ten hours. Flexure strength and hardness tests were performed for both groups and the results were tabulated and statistically analyzed. The results of the study showed, that there was a significant difference between the hardness of the control group and the one soaked in glutaraldehyde. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the two groups as regarding the flexure strength.