Objectives: The absorption of water by acrylic resins is a phenomenon of considerable importance since it is accompanied by dimensional changes, a further undesirable effect of absorbed water in acrylic resins to reduce the tensile strength of the material. Solubility is also an important property because it represents the mass of soluble materials from the polymers.
Methods: Ten acrylic resin-based materials were evaluated: two heat cure acrylic resins (De Trey QC-20, Meliodent Heat Cure) and eight self cure acrylic resins (Meliodent Cold, Akrileks, Akribel, Akribel Transparent, Vertex Trayplast, Formatray, Dentalon Plus, Palavit G). To evaluate water sorption and water solubility, thirty square-shaped specimens (20x20x1.5 mm) were fabricated from the wax specimens. One way ANOVA test, Tukey test and Pearson correlation coefficient performed for data.
Results: Water sorption mean values varied from 11.33+/-0.33 to 30.46+/-0.55 mug/mm(3). Water solubility mean values varied from -0.05+/-0.23 to 3.69+/-0.12 mug/mm(3). There was statistically significant difference between mean values of the materials (P<.05). There was no linear correlation between sorption and solubility values.
Conclusions: The results of the water sorption and water solubility values of both self-cured and heat-cured acrylic resins were in accordance with the ISO specification. No correlation found between water sorption and water solubility values.
Keywords: Acrylic resin; Heat-cure acrylic; Self-cure acrylic; Water solubility; Water sorption.