The objectives of this study were to detect the cytocompatibility of five different types of denture base resins and to compare the cytotoxic effect of these materials on primary human gingival fibroblasts. The gingival fibroblast cultures were exposed to test specimens from light-cured resin, heat-cured resin, self-cured resin, microwave-cured resin and injection-cured resin. Cell viability was determined by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazoyl)- 2,5-diphenyl-SH-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method at the 48th and 120th hours after exposure. All of the test specimens were cytotoxic to primary gingival fibroblast cultures. Self-cured resin was the most toxic denture base material among the other test materials. The cytotoxicity decreased in the order of heat-cured, visible light-cured, injection- cured, and microwave-cured resin. It is concluded that different denture base materials displayed low to intermediate degrees of cytotoxicy depending on their chemical composition and polymerization type. In the case of long term use, denture bases with low cytotoxicity should be preferred.
Keywords: Gingival fibroblast, cell viability, denture base materials
