ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Manufacturing with AM (Additive manufacturing) technique has many advantages; but, due to insufficient study in the area, it is not being widely used in the general clinic. In this study, differences of flexural strength among various materials of 3 unit fixed dental prosthesis were analyzed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A metal jig for specimens that had a 3-unit-fixed dental prosthesis figure were fabricated. The jigs were made appropriately to the specifications of the specimens. Three different kinds of materials of specimens which were NC (mathacrylic esther based), DP-1 (Bisphenol A epoxy acrylate type oligomer based), and DT-1 (urethane acrylate based) were printed with DLP machine. Five specimens for each kind of material were printed with an angle of 30° from the horizontal surface. The specimens were placed on the jig and the flexural strength was measured and recorded using Universal testing machine. The recorded data was analyzed in SPSS using One-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD to determine the significance of the differences of flexural strength among the groups. RESULTS: The flexural strengths of each group were the followings: NC, 1119 ± 305 N; DP-1, 619 ± 150 N; DT-1, 413 ± 65 N. Using One-way ANOVA and Tukey Honestly Significant Difference test, significant difference was found between NC and the other groups (P 0.05). CONCLUSION: Higher flexural strength was shown in 3-unit-fixed dental prosthesis that were 3D printed using a DLP machine with NC material.