Effect of Oil Paint Addition on Impact Strength of the Scleral Part of the Acrylic Ocular Prosthesis

For many dental and facial restorations, acrylic resins are the materials of choice because of their appropriate physical and mechanical properties. When making the ocular prosthesis from such materials, it is essential to add the perfect shade in order to match the colour of normal eye. This, however, might have a significant effect on the mechanical properties of acrylic resins.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of adding the white oil paint (titanium dioxide) to clear acrylic resins on their impact strength.

20 samples were constructed from heat cured acrylic resins, and divided into two groups (control and experimental) and each group had 10 samples. The first group was made from clear acrylic resin without the addition of white oil paints, and the second group (experimental) comprised the addition of 1 ml of the white oil paints to acrylic samples. Such samples were prepared with dimensions of (80 mm X10 mm X4 mm) length, width, and thickness, respectively. All the samples were tested by the Charpy's impact strength test. They were exposed to the load till the fracture occurred. All the values were analyzed using SPSS version 20, and the independent T-test was used for comparison between the 2 groups.

A statistically significant decrease (P-value < 0.001) was found in the impact strength of acrylic resins after the addition of titanium dioxide oil paints (experimental group: 5.97 + 1.11, control group: 9.42+1.32 KJ/M²).

This study concluded that the addition of titanium dioxide oil paint significantly reduces the impact of strength of the acrylic resin. It is suggested to use different stains which will have no negative effect on impact strength of the acrylic resin.