Development of a High Impact DLP 3D Printing Denture Resin

Objectives: Recently we have launched first high-impact 3D printable photopolymerizable denture base material – Lucitone Digital Print™ denture resin. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate this 3D printable material and compare with several leading commercially available conventional and 3D printable denture base materials.
Methods: The commercially available denture base materials evaluated are listed in Table below. Specimens for fracture toughness were prepared, notched and stored in 37°C water for 7-days and tested at 23°C according to ISO20795-1:2013 and at 37°C. Specimens for flexural test were stored in 37°C water for 50-hours and flexural properties were determined using three-point-flexure test at an Instron crosshead speed of 5mm/minute according to ISO20795-1:2013. Lucitone Digital Print denture resin was printed with Carbon’s M2 printer and post-cured in Lab Speedcure™ Processing Unit. Commercially available materials were typically prepared and cured according to manufacturers’ instructions. Mechanical properties of each material were statistically compared by ANOVA (a = 0.05).
Results: Values (standard deviation) of K_max, Fracture Work, Flexural Strength and Modulus of several materials are shown in Table below. Statistically, Lucitone Digital Print denture resin showed superior fracture toughness compared to commercially available 3D material tested.
Conclusions: A high-impact 3D printable denture resin has been developed with excellent physical and mechanical properties, which is expected to be suitable for use in a wide range of 3D printing applications.