Compressive and Flexural Strength of 3D-Printed and Conventional Resins Designated for Interim Fixed Dental Prostheses: An In Vitro Comparison

Abstract

A provisionalization sequence is essential for obtaining a predictable final prosthetic outcome. An assessment of the mechanical behavior of interim prosthetic materials could orient clinicians towards selecting an appropriate material for each clinical case. The aim of this study was to comparatively evaluate the mechanical behavior—with compressive and three-point flexural tests—of certain 3D-printed and conventional resins used to obtain interim fixed dental prostheses. Four interim resin materials were investigated: two 3D-printed resins and two conventional resins (an auto-polymerized resin and a pressure/heat-cured acrylic resin). Cylindrically shaped samples (25 × 25 mm/diameter × height) were obtained for the compression tests and bar-shaped samples (80 × 20 × 5 mm/length × width × thickness) were produced for the flexural tests, observing the producers’ recommendations. The resulting 40 resin samples were subjected to mechanical tests using a universal testing machine. Additionally, a fractographic analysis of failed samples in bending was performed. The results showed that the additive manufactured samples exhibited higher elastic moduli (2.4 ± 0.02 GPa and 2.6 ± 0.18 GPa) than the conventional samples (1.3 ± 0.19 GPa and 1.3 ± 0.38 GPa), as well as a higher average bending strength (141 ± 17 MPa and 143 ± 15 MPa) when compared to the conventional samples (88 ± 10 MPa and 76 ± 7 MPa); the results also suggested that the materials were more homogenous when produced via additive manufacturing.