Statement of problem: Which disinfection protocol provides optimal water contact angle and microhardness for computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) materials is unclear.

Purpose: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of different disinfection protocols (1% sodium hypochlorite, denture cleanser gel, and effervescent tablet) on the water contact angle and microhardness of different CAD-CAM PMMA denture base materials by comparing them with a heat-polymerized PMMA.

Material and methods: Disk-shaped specimens (Ø10×2 mm) were fabricated from 3 different CAD-CAM PMMAs-AvaDent (AV), Merz M-PM (M-PM), and Polident (Poli)-and a heat-polymerized PMMA (Vynacron) (CV) (n=21). Three disinfection protocols (1% sodium hypochlorite [HC], denture cleanser gel [GEL], an effervescent tablet [TAB]) were applied to simulate 180 days of cleansing. The water contact angle and microhardness of specimens were measured before and after disinfection and compared by using a 2-way ANOVA (α=.05).

Results: For water contact angle, material (P=.010) and disinfection protocol (P=.002) had a significant effect. The material (P<.001), disinfection protocol (P=.001), and their interaction (P<.001) significantly affected the microhardness after disinfection. When the condition after disinfection was compared with that before disinfection, the water contact angle increased significantly in all material-disinfection protocol pairs (P≤.025), and microhardness increased significantly in all material-disinfection protocol pairs (P≤.040), except for GEL- (P=.689) or TAB-applied (P=.307) AV, HC-applied M-PM (P=.219), and TAB-applied Poli (P=.159).

Conclusions: The material and disinfection protocol affected the water contact angle of all tested PMMAs after disinfection, resulting in more hydrophobic surfaces for heat-polymerized or CAD-CAM PMMAs. The microhardness of heat-polymerized PMMA was less than that of all CAD-CAM PMMAs after disinfection, regardless of the protocol.