SYNTHESIS, ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, AND MECHANICAL EVALUATION OF CO-POLYMERS FOR DENTAL APPLICATIONS

Abstract

3D printing has many potentials due to its ability to manufacture complex shapes as well as being very customizable. This technology is not very widespread and has only reached its infancy in dentistry. Implementing 3D printing in dentistry would allow the creation of more complex and customized dental prosthesis.This thesis presents an in-depth investigation into the synthesis and development of a 3D-printable EGDMA-based resin formulated to cure efficiently under UV light, enabling compatibility with most commercial resin-based additive manufacturing systems. The work examines the full resin formulation process, beginning with the selection and evaluation of appropriate photo-initiators to ensure proper polymerization behavior during printing. In addition, major focus is placed on the synthesis of the resin’s filler material. The filler material consists of PMMA-based copolymers synthesized with varying monomer ratios of MMA, MAA and GMA. By systematically adjusting these ratios, the study aims to understand how compositional differences influence the resulting material’s mechanical performance. Tensile testing shows that higher molecular weight copolymer improves the Modulus of Elasticity as well as UTS of the composite. The addition of GMA shows mixed results, with batch B2G, having 0.4 MAA:MMA ratio showing the best improvement in term of mechanical properties. The addition of GMA shows a 45% increase in Young’s Modulus, 66% increase in Yield Strength, and 49% increase in Ultimate Tensile Strength for B2G specifically.