Influence of plaster drying on the amount of residual monomer in heat-cured acrylic resins

ABSTRACT

Aim: To evaluate the influence of plaster condition, dry or not, on the amount of residual monomerin heat-cured acrylic resin. Methods: Thirty acrylic resin specimens (65x10x3 mm) were fabricatedand randomly assigned to 5 groups (n=6). The evaluated resins were heat-cured acrylic resinsby conventional or microwave polymerization techniques and the plaster was previously dried inmicrowave oven in two groups. Each specimen was individually immersed in a test tube containingmethanol (7 days) for surface analysis. In the groups for which internal monomer was evaluated,the specimens were fragmented and the small fragments were weighed prior to immersion inmethanol. The analysis was made by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Datawere analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey test (p<5%) Results: showed statistical differences amongthe groups. Conclusions: The previous plaster drying influenced the residual monomer amountshowing a decrease of these levels.