impression materials Flashcards
What is an impression?
Negative imprint of hard and soft tissues in the mouth from which a positive reproduction can be formed
What is a tray?
Container designed to roughly fit over the dental arched and hold impression material
How do impression materials work?
Liquid/semi-solid when first mixed and placed in tray
Quickly set to solid to leave imprint of mouth structures
What should be considered for the patient?
Neutral taste and odour Short setting time Small tray Easily removed No retakes Non-toxic
What should be considered for the dentist?
Easily mixed Short working times Good quality Low cost Easily disinfected Simple procedure
What makes a good impression?
Accurate reproduction of surface detail (viscosity and wettability)
Dimensional accuracy and stability (shrinkage on setting, cooling contraction, permanent set, storage stability, type of tray)
What types of trays are there?
Metal- stainless steel
Plastic- nylon-/polystyrene- based
What types of materials are there?
Rigid- waxes, impression composition, ZnO/Eu, plaster of Paris
Flexible- hydrocolloids (agar + alginate), elastomers (polysulphide, polyether, silicone polymers)
What is the composition of dental waxes?
Oligomer (long chain molecule w simple structure
CH3-[CH2]n-CH3
n=15-42
Sources- mineral (paraffin), animals (beeswax), veg (carnauba and candelilla wax)
What are the properties of dental waxes?
Softening temp- ~42 degrees (just above mouth temp)
High coefficient of thermal expansion (cooling contraction)
Rigid
Poor thermal conductor
Low viscosity
Why is shrinkage of impression material important?
If shrinks- slight space for cement
If expands- smaller model, teeth don’t fit
What is the thermal expansion coefficient?
The change in length, when determined per unit length for a 1C change in temp
Mouth is exposed to broad range of temps and therefore materials should be able to too
Materials should have a lower TEC so they don’t expand so much
What at dental waxes used for?
Not impressions- high TEC
Lab based material-
Modelling, inlay, sheet casting, sticky, carding and boxing in waxes
What is an impression composition?
Thermoplastic
Sheet or stick, warmed in water bath
Shaped in patients mouth in special tray
Doesn’t flow much
Sometimes doesn’t provide a v good fit
What is the composition of an impression composition?
Combination of-
~natural/synthetic resins (shellac, dammar, colophony, sandarac)
~plasticisers (stearic acid or gutta percha)- avoids brittleness
~fillers (talc, calcium carbonate, limestone)- avoids tackiness
Careful w allergies (resins)
What are the properties of impression composition?
Softening temp- 55-60C Rigid High TEC High viscosity (mucocompressive) Poor thermal conductivity- subject to stress relief
What is mucostatic?
Material is fluid enough to flow and doesn’t displace or tissues
Eg. Impression plaster, agar, ZnO/Eu, light body elastomers
What is mucocompressive?
Material is viscous and able to compress the oral tissues on insertion in mouth
Eg. impression compound, viscous alginate, some rigid elastomers
What are some common applications of impression compound?
Full/partial impressions
Sticks for copper band impressions
Adding to periphery of tray
What is rheology?
Study of flow of materials
Liquid flow measured by viscosity
Viscosity=shear stress/rate
Unit of viscosity= Pa.s
Rheometer- material loaded between plates, shear force applied under known conditions, force measured
What is viscous behaviour?
Shear stress-shear rate
Dilatant- shear thickening, increase in apparent viscosity at higher shear rates, eg. Silly putty
Newtonian- constant viscosity, across all shear rates eg. water
Pseudoplastic- shear thinning, lower apparent viscosity at higher shear rates
What is thixotropic behaviour?
Time dependant shear thinning property
Progressive decrease in viscosity with time for a constant applied shear stress, followed by a gradual recovery when the stress is removed
Characteristic of many elastomeric impression materials
Some degree of molecular rearrangement caused by mixing
What is the composition of Zinc Oxide/Eugenol?
Base paste- Zinc oxide, inert oils (plasticiser), hydrogenated resins (increases setting time and improves cohesion)
Reactor paste- Euganol, zinc acetate (accelerator), fillers (talc/kaolin)
1:1 (red and white)
Used w special tray
Some pasted contain eugenol substitute eg. Carboxylic acid