Resumen en español

There are available artificial teeth made of three types of acrylic resin: conventional, IPN (interpenetrating polymer network) and composite. When the properties of these acrylic teeth are compared with the natural ones, a significant difference in the properties is observed, for instance, their hardness. In this project the superficial Knoop hardness of acrylic teeth made of different type of PMMA acrylic resin was compared. The purpose was to determine whether exists a significant difference between them and whether the type of acrylic resin used could be an alternative for improving the hardness of these implants. As a result, it was found that the teeth made of microfilled composite acrylic have more hardness than the ones made of conventional or IPN acrylic resin. Despite of this, they still have a very small hardness value when compared with the natural teeth (enamel 270-350 KHN and dentin 50-70 KHN).