Background: Dimensional changes of acrylic denture bases after polymerization results in need for further adjustments or even ends with technical failure of the finished dentures. The purpose of this study was to estimate the linear dimensional changes for different palatal depths when using multiple investment materials and polymerization techniques. Materials and methods: Ninety upper complete denture bases were constructed for this study. They were divided into two main groups according to the polymerization methods: conventional water bath and experimental autoclave (short and long cycles). Each main group was further subdivided into three subgroups according to the palatal depth (shallow, medium and deep). Furthermore, for each palatal depth; complete denture bases were invested either with dental stone or laboratory silicone. For each upper complete denture, measurements of linear dimensional changes were done by fixation of metallic screws on the tissue surface of the denture base. The distances were measured by using travelling microscope with an accuracy of 0.001 %. The data were statistically analyzed using three way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for three variables, which were (palatal depth, investments and polymerization techniques), LSD test and student T test for comparisons between groups. Results: There were significant improvements in the dimensional accuracy of denture bases cured with autoclave compared with water bath. Also, silicone investments were a successful alternative to stone, study data shows that short autoclave processing with silicone reduces the magnitude of the linear dimensional changes. On the other hand, long autoclave processing and stone investments were better than silicone in reducing dimensional changes. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicates that the use of autoclave processing in acrylic curing is a promising alternative to the conventional water bath and leads to better dimensional stability for the finished dentures in all oral configurations and palatal depths. Also, Silicone is more preferable than stone, although it's not as strong investing materials when compared with stone.
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