Evaluation of the Wettability and Surface Roughness of Denture-relining Materials

Objectives: To evaluate the surface roughness and wettability of denture relining materials.
Methods: Ten specimens were prepared according to manufacturers’ guidelines for three different relining materials [Ufi Gel Hard (U), Voco GmbH, Cuxhaven, Germany; Elite Hard (E), Zhermack, Badia Polesine (RO), Italy; GC Reline (G), GC, Tokyo, Japan]. The surface roughness was analyzed with a surface roughness profilometer (Perthometer M2, Mahr GmbH; Germany). A microneedle was used to scan the specimen surfaces for the determination of average surface roughness which is the arithmetic average of the absolute values. Three measurements were performed for each specimen. The sessile drop technique, an optical contact angle method, was used to observe the wetting properties of a localized region on specimens by drop shape analysis system (DSA30, Kruess, Germany). This analysis was repeated for three times for each specimen. The arithmetic mean of surface roughness and wettability results were determined and Shapiro-Wilk normality test, Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis and Mann-Whitney U test were used for statistical analyses via IBM SPSS V22.0 software (IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, USA).
Results: Similar contact angle results were found in comparison of E and G (E~G), and E and U (E~U) (p<0,017). However, G had higher contact angle results (G>U). All groups showed different surface roughness results (GConclusions: Within the limitations of this study, no correlation was found between wettability and surface roughness. According to results, G had the highest contact angle, and U showed the lowest contact angle which means U has better wettability properties.