Purpose: This investigation introduces percent adherent area and 10-minute and 8-hour peel-strength values as an in vivo evaluation of three popular maxillofacial prosthetic adhesives when used with three extraoral prosthetic polymers.
Materials and methods: Specimens of Silastic MDX 4-4210, Silastic Medical Adhesive A (Dow Corning Corporation, Midland, MI), and Silicone A-2186 (Factor II, Inc, Lakeside, AZ) were adhered to 25 subjects' arms using Secure Medical Adhesive (Factor II, Inc), Pros-Aide Adhesive (ADM Tronics Inc, Northvale, NJ), and Hollister Colostomy Adhesive (Hollister Inc, Libertyville, IL). After 10 minutes, the peel strength required to remove the specimens was measured. Additional specimens were then adhered to the subjects and worn for 8 hours. The nonadherent areas of the specimens were then marked, the peel strength was measured again, and then the percent adherent area was calculated.
Results: Hollister Colostomy Adhesive showed greater 10-minute peel-strength values when used with Silastic Medical Adhesive A. The peel-strength values of the Hollister Colostomy Adhesive when used with Silastic MDX 4-4210 increased with time. The greatest percent adherent area was obtained with Silastic MDX 4-4210 using Pros-Aide Adhesive, and the lowest was obtained with Pros-Aide Adhesive using Silicone A-2186 and Silastic Medical Adhesive A.
Conclusions: There was no clearly superior adhesive/prosthetic material combination based on the tests used in this study; however, individual skin variations between patients affect the adhesive properties.