Effect of disinfection and sterilization on the tensile strength, surface roughness, and wettability of elastomers

Sunil Babu Kotha, Ravikumar Ramakrishnaiah, Darshan Devang Divakar, Sree Lalita Celur, Saad Qasim, Jukka P Matinlinna

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of chemical disinfection, autoclave, and microwave sterilization on some of the key properties of elastomers.

Methods: Five polyvinylsiloxane elastomeric impression materials were evaluated. Forty samples were fabricated from each material. The samples were randomly selected and assigned to four experimental groups with 50 samples each: group I, control; group II, chemical disinfection; group III, autoclave sterilization; and group IV, microwave sterilization. The differences in the mean values were contrasted and compared with the control group and analyzed using two-way analysis of variance (P < 0.05).

Results: The results showed that chemical disinfection and autoclave sterilization had no significant effect on the tensile strength and surface roughness, whereas microwave sterilization showed a statistically-significant reduction in tensile strength, and an increase in surface roughness. None of the disinfection and sterilization techniques had a significant effect on wettability. However, autoclave and microwave sterilization resulted in an increase in hydrophilicity of all the materials tested.

Conclusion: Chemical disinfection and autoclave sterilization had no statistically-significant effect on the tested properties of elastomers, thus autoclave sterilization can be considered as an alternative and an effective mode of disinfection and sterilization to eliminate all forms of disease causing microorganisms from dental impressions.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere12244
Pages (from-to)1-6
JournalJournal of investigative and clinical dentistry
Volume8
Issue number4
Early online date26 Oct 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2017

Keywords

  • autoclave sterilization
  • microwave sterilization
  • elastomeric impression material
  • tensile strength
  • surface roughness and wettability

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