170 CHAPTER 8 Impression Materials

TABLE 8-7 Characteristics of Elastomeric Impression TABLE 8-8 Composition of Commercial Reversible
Materials Hydrocolloid Impression Materials
Generic Type Advantages Disadvantages Component Function Composition (%)
Polysulfide Long working time Requires custom tray Agar Brush-heap structure 13−17
High tear resistance Stretching leads to Borate Strength 0.2−0.5
Margins easily seen distortion Sulfate Gypsum hardener 1.0−2.0
Moderate cost Compatible with stone
Wax, hard Filler 0.5−1.0
Stains clothing
Thixotropic materials Thickener 0.3−0.5
Obnoxious odor
Water Reaction medium Balance
Pour within 1 hour
Condensation Putty for custom High polymerization
silicone tray shrinkage
(putty wash) the oral tissues. Conversely, if the gelation temperature is too
Clean and pleasant Volatile by-product
far below oral temperature, it will be impossible to make the
Good working time Low tear strength
impression because the sol will not covert to a gel.
Margins easily seen Hydrophobic
Pour immediately Composition
Vinyl One material Hydrophobic Agar, a polysaccharide extracted from certain types of
polysiloxane Putty for custom No flow if sulcus is moist seaweed, is the main active ingredient in the material, while
tray Low tear strength water is the major constituent in the agar impression material
Automix dispense Putty displaces wash (Table 8-8). A small percentage of borax is added to strengthen
Clean and pleasant Wash has low tear the gel. Since borax is a potent retarder for the setting of
Margins easily seen strength gypsum, an accelerator such as potassium sulfate is added to
Ideally elastic Putty too stiff counteract the effect of borax. Other fillers—such as diato-
Pour repeatedly Putty and wash separate maceous earth, clay, silica, wax, rubber, and similar inert
Stable: delay pour Difficult to pour cast powders—are used to control strength, viscosity, and rigidity,
as previously discussed for elastomeric impression materials.
Polyether Fast-setting Stiff, high modulus
Thymol and glycerin may also be added as a bactericidal
Clean Bitter taste
agent and plasticizer, respectively. Pigments and flavors are
Automix dispense Need to block undercuts usually included as well. The hydrocolloid is usually supplied
Least hydrophobic Absorbs water in two forms, syringe material and tray material.
of all elastomers Leaches components
Margins easily seen High cost ? CRITICAL QUESTION
Good stability What is the purpose of having three water tanks set at three dif-
Delay pour ferent temperatures in a conditioning unit for agar impression
Shelf life: 2 y materials?
Agar Moist field OK Requires special
equipment Making the Agar Impression
Accurate and
pleasant Thermal discomfort This process requires a three-compartment conditioning unit
Hydrophilic Tears easily (Figure 8-16) for the agar tray material that allows liquefac-
Low cost Pour immediately tion, storage, and tempering, while the agar syringe material
is used only in the liquefaction and storage compartments.
Long shelf-life Difficult to see margins
and details The first step in impression making is to liquefy the hydro-
colloid gel in the tube in boiling water at 100 °C for a minimum
Alginate Moist field OK Not accurate/rough
of 10 minutes. The tube is then placed in a storage bath at 65
Clean and pleasant Tears easily
°C to retain the sol condition until it is needed. For the imme-
Hydrophilic Pour immediately diate preparation step, the impression tray is filled with
Low cost Can retard setting of hydrocolloid sol from the tube taken from the storage bath,
Long shelf-life gypsum a gauze pad is placed over the top of the tray material, and
the tray is placed in the water-filled tempering compartment
(at about 45 °C) of the conditioning unit. The tempering time
temperature (70 °C to 100 °C). When the sol is cooled, it is 3 to 10 min, just sufficient to ensure that all the material
becomes a gel at a point known as the gelation temperature has reached a lower temperature (55 °C or less). In any case,
(between 37 °C and 50 °C). Thus, it is called a reversible the loaded tray should never be left in this bath for more than
hydrocolloid. The gelation temperature is critical for impres- 10 minutes as partial gelation can occur, thereby making the
sion making. If it is too high, the heat from the sol may injure material unusable.