Mechanical, Surface, and Optical Properties of PMMA Denture Base Material Modified with Azadirachta indica as an Antifungal Agent.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE The present study assessed the influence of Azadirachta indica (AI) powder on the mechanical, surface, and optical properties of heat-polymerized polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) denture base material. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 300 heat-polymerized PMMA acrylic resin specimens were fabricated with dimensions of 65 × 10 × 3.3 ± 0.01 mm for flexural strength, 50 × 6 × 4 ± 0.01 mm for impact strength testing, and 15 × 2 ± 0.01 mm for surface roughness, hardness, and translucency testing. The specimens were distributed into six groups (n = 10) based on AI powder concentration: An unmodified control group and AI powder-modified groups with 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 wt% of acrylic resin powder. Universal testing machine was used to measure flexural strength and Charpy's impact tester for impact strength. Surface roughness, hardness, and translucency were assessed using a profilometer, Vicker hardness tester, and spectrophotometer, respectively. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and posthoc Scheffe's test were utilized; p ≤ 0.05 was considered a statistically significant difference. RESULTS ANOVA showed no significant differences in terms of impact strength (p = 0.175) and surface roughness (p = 0.371), while significant differences were detected in terms of flexural strength, hardness, and translucency (p = 0.001). According to post hoc Scheffe's test, there was a significant decrease in flexural strength for AI groups (p 0.05), with exception of 2.5% AI group (p = 0.001). For translucency, a significant difference was found between control and all modified groups (p<0.05). CONCLUSION Incorporating AI powder into heat-polymerized denture base material did not significantly alter impact strength, surface roughness, or hardness, except at 2.5% AI concentration, where hardness decreased. On the contrary, flexural strength and translucency were significantly affected. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE This study contributes to establishing a new approach for denture stomatitis disease treatment and prevention with the lowest adverse effect on denture properties.