Basic study of a new denture base resin applying hydrophobic methacrylate monomer.

To improve the water sorption of poly(methyl methacrylate), new hydrophobic monomers, such as norbonyl and phenyl methacrylate, were studied to determine the resin with lower water sorption with no decrease in mechanical property. Water sorption of the copolymers of the hydrophobic monomers and MMA decreased with the increase in the concentration of the monomers. Compressive and bending strength of the copolymers were higher than that of PMMA, and the elastic modulus in bending was the same as that of PMMA. In addition, the transverse-deflection values satisfied ADA specifications. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis of the copolymers showed a similar tendency to that of PMMA in spite of the introduction of bulky groups, such as norbonyl and phenyl, in the polymer molecule. The polymerization shrinkage in volume was in the following order: norbonyl < phenyl < methyl methacrylate.