## 4 Discussion  
This study was performed to analyze the cumulative disinfection efficacy of a denature cleaning tablet (sodium perborate) and microwave irradiation on the eradication of _C. albicans_ cultured on a PMMA denture base polymer. Our study was based on the hypothesis that there would be no significant difference in the disinfection efficacy of denture cleaning tablet, microwave irradiation, and their combination on the disinfection of _C. albicans_ cultured on denture base. However, the postulated hypothesis was rejected as microwave irradiation combined with cleaning tablets (sodium perborate) (MW-DC-DW) showed better disinfection efficacy than that of microwave (MW) and cleaning tablets (DC) alone. The outcomes of our study show that the CFU count of _C. albicans_ was significantly reduced after 2 min of exposure to the MW-DW-DC group. However, 3 min of exposure to MW-DW-DC displayed a nearly zero CFU count of _C. albicans_. These results are in line with the findings of the study conducted by [PERSON] et al. [26]. Their study revealed that a combination of microwave and denture cleaning tablets demonstrated bactericidal as well as fungicidal effects against _C. albicans_. Moreover, they also identified that this combination possesses the ability to remove dead organisms from the PMMA denture bases. Denture cleaning tablets containing sodium perborate dissolve into peroxides, which results in  
Figure 6: SEM micrographs presenting the attachment of _C. albicans_ to PMMA samples. (**A**) Control sample with _C. albicans_ growth. (**B**) MC-DC-DW sample at 1 min treatment. (**C**) MW-DW sample at 1 min treatment. (**D**) DC-DW sample at 5 min. (**E**) MW-DC-DW disinfection sample at 3 min. (**F**) MW-DW sample at 3 min. the physical cleaning of the PMMA due to the bubbling and chemical destruction of the microbial cell walls [12; 13; 14]. Similar findings were also observed by [PERSON] et al. [21]. They concluded that a denture cleaning tablet along with microwave irradiation caused the elimination of yeast cells from the PMMA resin base. Our study demonstrated almost 99% reduction in the CFU count of _C. albicans_. The slight difference observed in the previous studies may be due to the difference in the chemical composition of sodium perborate in the cleaning tablets and the different parameters of MW radiation [27; 28]. Microwave disinfection is considered to be an effective and time-saving denture disinfection approach in clinical dentistry [29]. Microwaves disinfect by using thermal and non-thermal methods [30; 31]. A thermal effect requires the presence of water or ionic molecules to produce a bactericidal influence at low energy levels [30], whereas high-energy, high-frequency microwaves cause cell wall and organelle destruction of microorganisms [31]. Our study found that microwave-disinfected samples displayed a significantly decreased CFU count of _C. albicans_ at 3 min of exposure. Previous studies revealed that microwave disinfection initiates a change in the structure and permeability of the fungal cells, resulting in alterations in cell metabolism, causing cell death [32; 33; 34]. These results agree with the outcomes of the study conducted by [PERSON] et al. [28]. In contrast, a study by [PERSON] et al. showed a 1.3% survival rate of _C. albicans_ when exposed to microwave irradiation at 350 W for 4 min [35]. In our study, MW irradiation disinfection was applied at higher power (450 Watts) for less time (3 min); therefore, a change in power and exposure time parameters may have ensured better disinfection. Moreover, in our study, the denture bases were immersed in distilled water prior to the exposure to MW irradiation. This technique may have provided the samples with a sterilized environment to prevent re-infection and a cleaner sample surface, compared with the dry sample's MW exposure.