Effect of zinc oxide on flexural and physical properties of PMMA composites

Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) is the most widely accepted material in maxillofacial implants due to its superior advantages. The material used for craniofacial implant should have good mechanical and antibacterial properties to withstand forces and eliminate infection. A study was conducted to prepare PMMA incorporated with β-tricalcium phosphate (β -TCP) filler and zinc oxide as an antibacterial agent at different compositions and investigate the flexural properties of the produced PMMA/β- TCP/ZnOcomposites. Pure PMMA as control,15 % β –TCP filled, 15% β –TCPwith 2.5% ZnO filled as well as15% β -TCPwith5% ZnOfilled PMMA were prepared. PMMA were mixed together with β -TCP and zinc oxide manually according to the percentages specified until it has reached the homogeneous state. Flexural specimens were prepared by casting the paste in silicone mould which has been fabricated using 3D printed flexural template. The number of samples was n=7 for each composition. Statistical analysis of One Way ANOVA was employed to compare the flexural properties of each samples. Flexural strength of pure PMMA,15 % β –TCP filled, 15% β –TCP with 2.5% ZnO filled as well as 15% β –TCP with 5% ZnO filled PMMA were 60.79, 46.75, 38.72 and 41.49 MPa respectively. The addition of either β- TCP or β- TCP with ZnO decreased the flexural properties and it showed significant differences as compared to pure PMMA (p0.05).