Effect of disinfection treatments on the hardness of soft denture liner materials.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effects of disinfection treatments with chemical solutions (2% glutaraldehyde, 5% sodium hypochlorite, and 5% chlorhexidine) and microwave energy on the hardness of four long-term soft denture liners.


METHODS
Forty rectangular specimens of four soft lining materials (Molloplast-B, Ufi Gel P, Eversoft, and Mucopren soft) were made for each material. Ten samples of each material were immersed in different disinfectant solutions for 10 minutes or placed in a microwave oven for 3 minutes at 500 W. The hardness values were obtained with a Shore A durometer, before the first disinfection cycle (control), and also after two cycles of disinfection. Data were submitted to analysis of variance and Tukey's test (p < 0.01).


RESULTS
The highest value of hardness was obtained for Molloplast-B, independent of the disinfection technique. Mucopren soft demonstrated intermediate values and Ufi Gel P and Eversoft the lowest values of Shore A hardness. For Molloplast-B, the disinfection using glutaraldehyde demonstrated the highest value of hardness. The number of disinfections had no effect on the hardness values for all the materials studied and disinfection techniques.


CONCLUSIONS
The application of two disinfection cycles did not change the Shore A hardness values for all the materials. The glutaraldehyde solution demonstrated the highest values of Shore A hardness for the Molloplast-B, Mucopren soft, and Ufi Gel P materials, while Eversoft did not present any differences in hardness when submitted to different disinfection treatments.
Pavan
Sabrina
S
Department of Dental Materials and Prosthodontics, Araraquara Dental School, São Paulo State University, Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil. sabrinapavan@ig.com.br
Arioli Filho
João Neudenir
JN
Dos Santos
Paulo Henrique
PH
Nogueira
Sérgio Sualdini
SS
Batista
André Ulisses Dantas
AU
D003822:Denture Liners; D004203:Disinfection; D006244:Hardness / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D008872:Microwaves