ABSTRACT
Objective: To evaluate the change of diameter of different injection-molded thermoplastic materials. Material and Methods: Four thermoplastic injection-molded materials were analyzed (Bre.flex 2nd edition, Vertex ThermoSens, Perflex Biosens and Polyan IC). A total of 432 test samples were made in the form of an "hourglass". All samples were divided into three groups: Group I (Control) - consisting of 36 test samples for each type of material, that was not exposed to artificial aging or a wet environment; Group II - consisting of 36 test samples for each type of material, that were artificially aged through dehydration; Group III - specimen were subjected to artificial aging without dehydration. The diameter of each specimen was measured with a digital caliper. Data were analysed using the Student's t-test. Results: Regarding to shrinkage, the samples from the Bf Control group have a mean value of 1.56 mm and was observed a shrinkage of the injection-molded polyamide material within 0.25%. The comparison between the samples from Group II and Group III showed statistically significant differences (p<0.001). There were no significant differences between groups for Thermosens and Biosens (p>0.05). The comparison between Group II and Group III for Polyan IC samples shows that Group III has a higher arithmetic mean value (p<0.01). Conclusion: Shrinkage of the polymers during the injection process is present in all materials. The thermocycling and the storage in a dry or in a wet environment of the samples results in a change of the diameter in almost every single type of material.