Mechanical performance of contemporary provisional crown materials: insights for clinical decision-making.

The objective of this research was to evaluate and compare the flexural strength and practical uses of provisional crown materials such as self-curing polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), heat-curing PMMA, self-curing temporary acrylic resin (Tempron), fast-setting Bis-Acrylic self-cure (Structur 2 SC), and Bis-Acryl composite (Protemp-III Garant). Standardized specimens (25 mm x 10 mm x 2 mm) of each material were fabricated (n = 15 per group) and allowed to bench cure for 20 min under a constant load of 500N. Heat-activated PMMA specimens were polymerized at 90 °C for 2 h. Specimens were polymerized in normal saline at 37 °C for five days to simulate oral conditions. A universal testing machine (UTM) assessed their flexural strength and elastic modulus. Significant differences were observed among the materials (p < 0.05). Protemp III Garant showed the highest mean flexural strength, followed by Structure 2 SC and Tempron, while self-cure and heat-cure PMMA exhibited the lowest values. However, the elastic modulus values did not differ significantly among groups (p > 0.05. Within the limitations of this in vitro study, Protemp III and Structure 2 SC demonstrated superior flexural performance compared with other tested materials, suggesting their potential suitability as provisional crown materials. Further long-term in vivo studies are recommended to validate these findings.