Journal of Dental Research, Vol 55, 272-280, Copyright © 1976 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Potential use of one-phase (methyl methacrylate) in dental implants
H. S. Zaki and I. L. Kamel
Three techniques were studied to control the porosity and the pore size of
the one-phase PMMA matrix, namely light sintering and the use of
hydroxyapatite- or NaCl-filler. These techniques alleviate the problems of
residual monomer inherent in the two-phase PMMA system. A two-step light
sintering technique with a solid polymer core and porous outer layer showed
improvement in the overall mechanical properties and good potential for
anatomical implants. The NaCl-filled PMMA was found to give the best
overall mechanical properties and control of porosity. The mechanical
properties of the filled, water-equilibrated composites were close to
literature values of dry PMMA systems except for a noticeable drop in their
modulus. In the instance of hydroxyapatite, the 20 wt %-filled PMMA
composites with 35-mesh particle size suffered a substantial loss in their
mechanical properties and physical integrity after soaking for one week in
water. Polymer-filler particle size ratio should be taken into
consideration in compounding in order to obtain the desired filler
distribution (either random or network).
