The Analysis of the Differences between the Influence of Herbal Mouthwashes and the Chlorhexidine Mouthwash on the Physical Characteristics of Orthodontic Acrylic Resin

The present study, intended to compare the effects of immersion in herbal mouthwashes and the Chlorhexidine mouthwash on orthodontic acrylic resin, specifically with regard to alterations in its hardness, roughness and color. Seventy-two specimens of Orthodontic self-cured acrylic resin were used for the experiments. After preparation, specimens were placed in three types of mouthwash including Chlorhexidine 0.2 % (CHX), Persica and Matrica. The changes in microhardness (ΔKNH), Surface roughness (ΔRa) and color (ΔE) were evaluated prior to and following the immersion in mouthwashes. In order to analyze the data, we made use of SPSS version 22. One-Way ANOVA test was used to find the differences between groups. The Tukey test was conducted in the final stage. It was revealed that acrylic resins had lower microhardness when 12 hours after immersion had taken place. There were significant differences after 12h, 24h and 7 days between the groups in the softening of acrylic resins. The reduction in microhardness of acrylic resin with herbal mouthwashes in the three-time intervals was higher than CHX. With regard to increasing surface roughness, the disparity between herbal mouthwashes was insignificant. However herbal mouthwashes significantly increased the value of roughness more than CHX. Changes in color were significantly higher in all mouthwashes. Herbal mouthwashes caused more color variation than CHX. The color, roughness and hardness of acrylic resin undergo changes as a result of being immersed in the mouthwashes. However, the effect of herbal mouthwashes was more than that of CHX.