Evaluation of the Transverse Strength and Surface Roughness Properties of High-Impact Polymethylmethacrylate after Long-Term Submergence in Clove Oil Solution

Clove oil is the essential oil which has antibacterial and antifungal properties, also, it is used to disinfect polymethylmethacrylate. This study examined high-impact polymethylmethacrylate transversal flexural strength and surface roughness after long-term immersion in clove oil solution. Sixty high-impact polymethylmethacrylate specimens were created and categorized into three subgroups: control, 2% clove oil solution, and 6% clove oil solution. The transverse strength and surface roughness were evaluated using testing apparatuses (Universal testing apparatus and profilometer). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was done. The data were evaluated by (GraphPad Prism 9.5.0.730) using the Shapiro-Wilk test, One-way ANOVA, followed by post hoc Tukey’s test, with a significance level of 0.05. Differences in transverse strength and surface roughness were observed when comparing the control and treatment groups. The 6% group exhibited the highest surface roughness average(0.2394 µm), followed by the 2% group(0.1487 µm), while the control group had the lowest mean(0.1273 µm). For transverse strength, the 6% group showed the highest mean (83.23 N/mm2), followed by the 2% group(81.03 N/mm2), while the control group had the lowest mean (76.60 N/mm2). FTIR showed no chemical interaction between clove oil and polymethylmethacrylate. This study concludes that a higher concentration of clove oil solution had a negative effect on surface roughness by making high-impact polymethylmethacrylate rough. The clove oil solution strengthens the high-impact polymethylmethacrylate by increasing the transverse strength. The 2% clove oil solution showed the best result because this group had higher transverse strength than the control group and had lesser surface roughness than the 6% group.