Abstract
Aims: This study aimed to assess the mechanical properties (Flexural strength, Compression strength, and hardness) and accuracy (trueness and precision) of plant-based resin as dental models in relation to conventional resin.
Materials and Methods: Sixty specimens for mechanical properties (20 specimens for each test) evaluation and 20 dental models were fabricated using two types of 3D printing resins (plant-based and conventional) printed by an LCD 3D printer with 75 µm layer thickness and zero-degree printing orientation. The mechanical performance was assessed through flexural strength, compressive strength, and hardness testing. Dimensional accuracy was evaluated by digitally scanning the printed models with a lab scanner and analyzing the datasets using Geomagic Control X software.
Results: Descriptive analysis and an independent samples t-test were performed. The results show that the plant-based resin exhibited equivalent values to those of the conventional model resin for flexural strengths (49.81±3.47 MP, 48.41±4.14 MP respectively), compressive strengths (4127.39±1.1MP, 127.3±0.59 MP respectively), and hardness (70.68±0.49 and 70.72± 1.12 respectively). No statistically significant differences (p=0.105) were observed between the two resin types in terms of model trueness, whereas the plant-based resin demonstrated higher precision than the conventional resin (0.184±0.04 and 0.257± 0.09 mm, respectively).
Conclusion: Plant-based resins demonstrate mechanical and dimensional properties comparable to those of conventional 3D-printed model resin. Plant-based resin shows superior precision to conventional resin.