NON-ELASTIC IMPRESSION

MATERIALS

Dr Nazish Fatima
BDS, MDS
Assistant Professor
Science of Dental Materials
Ziauddin College of Dentistry
 NON-ELASTIC IMPRESSION
MATERIAL

 A group of products which in some cases are clearly plastic (e.g. impression
waxes) and in other cases are very rigid but show little evidence of plastic
deformation (e.g. impression plasters).
 NON ELASTIC IMPRESSION
MATERIALS

Four main types of impression materials classified as non-elastic materials:

(1) Impression plaster

(2) Impression compound

(3) Impression waxes

(4) Zinc oxide / eugenol impression pastes

1- IMPRESSION PLASTER
Composition
 calcined, β-calcium sulphate hemihydrate---which when mixed with water reacts
to form calcium sulphate dihydrate.

 Potassium sulphate ---Anti expansion agents. secondary effect of accelerating the

setting reaction,

 borax ---A retarder, such as, is normally incorporated, in order to give a material in
which the setting characteristics are controlled.

 A pigment such as alazarin red is also commonly used, in order to make a clear
distinction between the impression and the model after casting of the model.
uses
 Preliminary impression----Freshly mixed plaster is too fluid to be used in a stock
impression tray and is normally used in a special tray, constructed using a 1–1.5
mm spacer. The tray may be constructed from acrylic resin or shellac.

 Another technique is to record the plaster impression as a wash in a preliminary

impression compound.

 Dental impression plaster remains a useful material, particularly when recording

impressions of patients with excessively mobile soft tissues overlying the residual
alveolar bone (a ‘flabby’ ridge).
 Before casting a plaster model in a plaster impression, the impression must be
coated with a separating agent, otherwise separation is impossible.

 The water-absorbing nature of these materials often causes patients to complain

about a very dry sensation after having impressions recorded.

 Disinfection of a plaster impression can be achieved with a 10 minute soak in

sodium hypochlorite solution as described previously.

 Accurate impression
 Fluid
 Moisture absorption
 Minimal dimension change
Property Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Type 5

Initial setting – 5–10 5–20 5–20 5–20

time (min)
Setting time 4 20 20 20 20
(min)

Setting 0–0.15 0–0.30 0–0.20 0–0.15 0.16–0.3

expansion (%)
Compressive 6 12 25 40 40
strength 1 h
(MPa)

Compressive – 24 70 75 75
strength 24 h
(MPa)

Flexural 1 1 15 20 20
strength 24 h
(MPa)

Detail 75 75 50 50 50
 2- IMPRESSION COMPOUND
 Impression compound is a thermoplastic material.

Composition of a typical impression compound material.

Component Example Function

Thermoplastic material Natural or synthetic resins Characterizes the softening

(47%) and waxes temperature

Filler (50%) Talc Gives ‘body’ by increasing

viscosity of the softened
material; reduces thermal
contraction

Lubricant (3%) Stearic acid Improves flow properties

Classification of impression compound

These are usually classified as

 Type I (lower fusing)----- used as impression material

 Type II (higher fusing)---- used for constructing impression tray

Type I (lower fusing)

 The lower fusing, type I impression materials may be supplied in either sheet
or stick form.

 The sheet material is used for recording impressions of edentulous ridges,

normally using stock trays.

 The sheet material is normally softened using a water bath.

 A temperature in the range 55– 60ºC is normally found to be ideal.

 Time

 Temperature
Type I (lower fusing)

 The stick material is used for border extensions on impression trays or for
recording impressions of single crowns using the copper ring technique.

 The stick material is generally softened using a flame.

 The material is tempered in a water bath before placing in the patient’s mouth.
PROPERTIES OF IMPRESSION COMPOUND

1- VALUE OF FLOW
One of the main requirements for impression compound, set out in American and British Standards,
is for the value of flow at mouth temperature (37ºC) and 45ºC .

Flow of impression compound as required by ADA specification no 3, and BS 3886

Flow at 37ºC at 45ºC

Type I 20% or less† 85% or more

6% or less*

Type II 2% or less between 70 and 85%

 2- IMPRESSION TAKING PROPERTY

 The other main requirement of standards is for impression taking properties. This
applies to type 1 materials only.

 The material should be capable of recording sharp grooves 0.2–4 mm wide cut into
the surface of a metal test block
3- VISCOSITY
Impression compound is the most viscous of the impression materials in common
use
Material Viscosity (Pas)
Impression compound 4000

Impression plaster 60

Zinc oxide/eugenol paste 60

Alginate 50

Light-bodied elastomer 30

‘Putty’ elastomer 800

The very high viscosity of impression compound is significant in two ways.

Firstly, it limits the degree of fine detail which can be recorded in an impression.

Secondly, it characterizes compound as muco-compressive impression material .

PROPERTIES
4- Compound is fairly rigid after setting and has poor elastic properties

5- The materials have large values of coefficient of thermal expansion and undergo
considerable shrinkage on removal from the mouth.
6- Three factors combine to produce significant internal stresses within the compound
impression.
(1) The high value of coefficient of thermal expansion.
(2) The poor thermal conductivity.
(3) The relatively large temperature drop from the softening temperature to room
temperature.
Use
 Impression compound is most widely used for recording preliminary impressions
of edentulous arches.

 Impression compound is still used widely in stick form to modify/refine the

peripheral extent of a special tray, particularly for complete dentures or in the
edentulous regions for partial dentures.
3- Zinc oxide/eugenol impression pastes

These materials are normally supplied as two pastes which are mixed together on a
paper pad or glass slab.
zinc oxide paste------ White color----- Catalyst paste
eugenol paste------ Reddish brown color----Base paste
 Composition
Composition of impression Component Function
pastes

Paste 1 Zinc oxide Reactive ingredient which takes

Olive oil, linseed oil or
equivalent
Zinc acetate or equivalent (in
small quantities)
Water (trace) in some products
part in setting reaction
Inert component used to form
paste with zinc oxide
To accelerate setting
To accelerate setting

Paste 2 Eugenol (oil of cloves) Reactive ingredient – takes part

in setting reaction

Kaolin, talc or equivalent Inert filler used to form a paste

with eugenol
Reaction
Two molecules of eugenol react with zinc oxide to form the salt.

2C10H12O2 + ZnO → Zn(C10H11O2)2 + H2O

Structural formula of Eugenol.

 It can be seen that the ionic salt bonds are formed between zinc and the phenolic
oxygens of each molecule of eugenol.

 Two further co-ordinate bonds are formed by donation of pairs of electrons from
the methoxy oxygens to zinc.

 Structural formula of Zinc eugenolate

USE
 These materials are normally used to record the final impressions of edentulous
arches.

 The thickness of paste used is normally around 1 mm. This thin section of material
results in an insignificant dimensional change on setting and subsequent storage of
the impression.

 The major restriction on the use of these materials is their lack of elasticity.
Properties
 ADA specifi cation no 16 sets out requirements for consistency and hardness

 which are used to categorize impression pastes as either type 1 (hard) or type II
(soft) as well as limiting the values of initial and final setting times.

 The impression taking properties are determined from the ability to reproduce fine
engraved lines on a metal block. The finest line is only 0.025 mm wide.

 The dimensional stability is determined by measuring the extent to which the

distance between two fixed points on the surface of a sample of set material
changes between 15 minutes and 6 hours. The maximum allowed change is only
0.02%.
 These requirements confirm the ability of the materials to record fine detail and
their good dimensional stability.

 In addition to recording conventional non undercut impressions the materials , it

also traditionally been used for recording interocclusal relationships, although there
is now increased use of elastomeric materials for this purpose.

 Occasionally, however, eugenol may promote an allergic response in some patients.

To cater for this type of patient, eugenol-free zinc oxide impression pastes are
available.
4- IMPRESSION WAXES
 Impression waxes are rarely used to record complete impressions but are normally
used to correct small imperfections in other impressions, particularly those of the
zinc oxide/ eugenol type.

 Waxes can also be used to produce a muco compressive impression of the

edentulous saddles for a lower, free-end saddle partial denture – the so called
Applegate technique.

 These materials consist, typically, of a mixture of a low melting paraffin wax and
beeswax in a ratio of about 3 : 1. This composition ensures a very high degree of
flow at mouth temperature.