THE EFFECT OF IMPREGNATED GLASS FIBERS ON THE FLEXURAL\ud STRENGTH OF ACRYLIC AND COMPOSITE RESIN: AN IN-VITRO STUDY\ud

Objective: The aim of this in-vitro study is to compare flexural strength of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and bis-acryl composite (BAC) resin material reinforced with impregnated glass fibers.\ud Materials and Methods: Two groups of rectangular test specimens (n=20) were fabricated. One group contained PMMA acrylic and the other contained bis-acryl composite resin material. The experimental groups contained impregnated glass fiber reinforcement and the non-reinforced group served as the control. Flexural strength of the specimens was measured by a universal testing machine until fracture. The mean flexural strength (N) was compared by a two way ANOVA test and followed by a simple main effect, using a significance level of 0.05. \ud Results: For reinforced groups, the mean flexural strength of PMMA resin increased from 349.4N (+/- 23.4) to 613.6N (+/-54.2). For BAC resin, the mean flexural strength increased from 513.6N (+/-103.1) to 603.5N (+/-50.5). Reinforced PMMA resin was highly significant (p