Tehran University of Medical Sciences Frontiers in Biomedical Technologies 2345-5837 13 3 2026 09 01 720 732 Saeideh Sadeghi Student Research Committee and Department of Prosthodontics, School of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Amin Abolghasemi Mahani Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran Sina Safari Student Research Committee and Department of Prosthodontics, School of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran 2024 10 11 2024 11 20 Purpose: Polymethyl methacrylate resins are a class of materials used widely in dental practices. However, reinforcement of PMMA resins is the most important issue for the fabrication of overdentures/dentures with long-term durability. In the current study, the mechanical properties (in terms of tensile, bending, and impact properties) and applicability of the heat-polymerized Polymethyl methacrylate denture base materials were investigated by incorporating the synthesized sol-gel derived nano-porous silica aerogel. Materials and Methods: Polymethyl methacrylate overdenture base materials were prepared by direct mixing of liquid MMA component with the desired weight contents of the synthesized sol-gel derived silica aerogel (i.e., 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 wt%) followed by thermal polymerization. The mechanical properties of the prepared nano-composites were investigated in terms of tensile, impact, and bending strength, and the experimental results were also compared with those commercial Triplex Hot acrylic base overdenture resin. Results: The experimental results revealed that there is a meaningful correlation (P<0.05) between silica aerogel weight content and mechanical properties of the as-prepared silica aerogel- Poly-methyl methacrylate composites. Compared with commercial Triplex Hot base composite, fabricated Poly-methyl methacrylate base denture composites containing only 7.5 wt% of silica aerogel show higher mechanical properties. At optimum concentration, the bending, impact, and flexural properties of the composites reached 16.3 MPa, 22.9 MPa, and 38.1 Kj. m-2, respectively. Conclusion: The experimental results revealed that nano-porous silica aerogel is a promising alternative candidate to be used as an efficient filler in the fabrication of overdentures. Fabricated nano-composites using silica aerogel show higher mechanical properties, compared to fabricated commercial base composites. Furthermore, denture/overdentures had better fracture toughness by using nano-porous silica aerogel, and no more space is needed. https://fbt.tums.ac.ir/index.php/fbt/article/view/1126 https://fbt.tums.ac.ir/index.php/fbt/article/download/1126/588