Eco-friendly denture adhesives (EFDAs) filled with different types of natural starches: mechanical and biological performance evaluation

This research focuses on the development of eco-friendly denture adhesives (EFDAs) by studying the effects of the addition of different types of native and modified natural starches as fillers in denture adhesive properties for dental applications. The properties of EFDAs filled with single and hybrid starches in comparison with a selected commercial denture adhesive were investigated. The investigated single starches were corn, tapioca and sago while the hybrid starches used were corn/tapioca (CT), corn/sago (CS) and tapioca/sago (TS), all with ratio of 1:1. The EFDAs were prepared with 5, 10 and 15 percent (wt. %) loading of starch filler. The starches were chemically and physically modified via oxidation and gelatinization techniques. The mechanical characterization performed were tensile bonding strength (TBS), adhesiveness and hardness, as well as cytotoxicity test by using an MTT assay for biological analysis. Mechanical analysis indicated that produced EFDAs have higher tensile bond strength, adhesiveness and hardness as compared to the commercial denture adhesive. The increment was associated with the addition of hybrid starches and an optimum filler loading at 10%. The EFDAs were also non-toxic to the dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) up to 48 h. EFDA has good potential to be used as a natural based denture adhesive as it contains natural materials namely starch which enhances its properties. The properties were suitable for better denture bonding, retention and showed good interaction with the biological environment.