Aims and objectives of the study was to study the integrity of the interface between the denture base and the soft liner when the thickness of the soft liner was 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mm, and to study the integrity of the soft liner and denture base interface as influenced by aging process. 80 rectangular based specimens were fabricated using heat cured acrylic resin. The heat cured component of the specimen was fabricated from stainless steel template form by compression molding technique. Different thickness of silicone soft layer component was added to heat cured acrylic resin component of the specimen following the manufacturer's instructions to fabricate the group A, group B, group C and group D specimens. All the specimens were subjected to the same finishing and polishing procedures. The group A specimens was immediately scanned in scanning electron microscope after processing. A thermo statically controlled artificial saliva bath designed to maintain the temperature between 38 ± 4°C was used to simulate the oral condition and to age the group B, group C and group D specimens for 3 months after which they were subjected to scanning under a scanning electron microscope. All the aged specimens demonstrated two types of failures namely adhesive which occurred along the bond interface between the soft liner and the acrylic resin and adhesive and cohesive type of failure which occurred not only at the interface but also within the soft liner material itself. When the data was subjected to ANOVA, the group A specimens showed statistical significance with group B (P = 0.006), group C (P = 0.007) and group D specimens (P = 0.004), the level of significance being (P < 0.05). However, there was no statistical significance between group B and C (P = 0.98), group C and D specimens (P = 0.52), group B and D specimens (P = 0.70), the level of significance being (P < 0.05). Based on the results, statistical analysis of the results and within the limitations of this in vitro study the following conclusions can be drawn: The thickness of the liner did not show a statistically significant rate of failure on the integrity of the interface between the denture base resin and the soft liner and aging conditions simulating the clinical environment showed a statistically significant rate of failure on the integrity of the interface between the denture base resin and the soft liner.
Keywords: Adhesive and cohesive failure; Aging the specimens; Failure at the interface; Integrity of the interface; Scanning electron microscope; Silicone soft liner; Study of the bond failure.