Polymers and Polymer Science in Dentistry

✍ Scribed by Braden, Michael

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1978
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 535 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0007-1641
• DOI: 10.1002/pi.4980100406

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Polymers (including some with no other commercial applications) find a wide variety of uses in dentistry. Appropriate physical measurements can reveal potential difficulties with materials intended for dental use. Viscoelastic measurements show that the glass transition temperature of pourable polymethyl methacrylate resins which are polymerised at ambient temperature are too low to avoid the possibility of distortion by heat in use: this results from the presence of residual monomer which irritates soft tissue. The uptake of water by the materials is important in dental applications but standard tests often fail to distinguish the effects of equilibrium absorption and rate of uptake properly characterised by the diffusion coefficient.

Cationic polymerisation of ethylene imine derivatives has applications in dentistry and the ‘command’ setting of acrylic materials by ultra‐violet light can be convenient. Soft acrylic or silicone linings for dentures are also discussed.