ABSTRACT
Objectives: the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different denture cleansing methods on microorganisms and surface roughness of acrylic resin both invivo and invitro
Material and methods: one hundred and eleven discs were used. Thirty six discs were chosen for the roughness evaluation and a further seventy five for the microbiological test. For the invivo evaluation, thirty six patients who were wearing their dentures for more than one year were selected. Three types of cleansers were evaluated; electric toothbrush as a mechanical method, effervescent tablets as a chemical immersion and propolis as a natural immersion, and water was used as control. In vitro cleansing of discs simulated one year of cleansing. Surface roughness was measured with profilometer, invivo and invitro microorganisms count were evaluated before and after cleansing. Correlation between roughness and microorganisms count was done
Results: the three types of cleansers showed significant effect on roughness and on microorganisms invivo and invitro. There was highly significant difference after cleansing between the 4 groups regarding roughness [F= 41.51, P= 0.000], invivo bacterial count [F= 19.487, P= 0.000] and fungal count [F= 6.666, P= 0.001]
Conclusion: the effect of propolis and effervescent tablets on microorganisms was comparable and they were more effective than the brush method. However, Propolis was found with a powerful antimicrobial effect against most oral microorganisms, and can be used on prescription as a denture soak with equivalent or higher effect as a cleanser especially with its advantage as a promising natural product