Structural and Thermal Changes in Dental Resins Enriched with Silver Nanoparticles

Acrylic resins are frequently used in dentistry for the removable partial or complete denture but, epidemiological studies report that approximately 70% of removable denture wearers suffer from denture stomatitis. Silver nanoparticles (AgNps) incorporation aims to avoid or at least to decrease the microbial colonization over dental materials, but their influence on the mechanical features is still not very well known. A total of 100 heat curing and 100 of self-curing acrylic resin samples were made, and divided into three groups for both resins (ten for each), according to the concentration of AgNPs solution (5%, 10%, and 20% vol.) incorporated into the monomer. One control group without AgNPs for each resin was prepared, as well. The dimensions of the used AgNPs, were 20, 40 and 60 nm. The structural changes were analyzed with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The thermal behavior was evaluated through Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The results demonstrated that AgNPs incorporation doesn't induce significant structural and thermal changes in dental resins.