Denture Adhesives: Adhesion Testing Methods

The main reason for using denture adhesives is to increase adhesion. Testing of the adhesion properties requires reliable instruments, equipment and methods together with repeatability for comparison. In addition, there were limitations of in vitro testing methods led to an adhesion value that did not represent those which occurred intraorally. The objective of this study was to create testing machines, instrument and methods for denture adhesive testing. The results showed that the Pi 2 method using pig skin and acrylic plate models was able to solve this in vitro problem. Since the available instrumentations for in vivo testing method were quite complicated, the Pi 3 method was then developed by using acrylic resin palatal plate and an adhesion testing instrument based on a balance beam composed of an analog force gauge, a force controller and a head positioning device. From the trial testing, it was found that the results from the Pi 2 method could be statistically analyzed to distinguish the differences between 6 formulated adhesive gels very well. For the Pi 3 method, the adhesion testing instrument was also very effective. However, selection criteria for the test groups should be carefully concerned. In conclusion, the Pi 2 and Pi 3 methods are effective in testing denture adhesives.