M. Corso et al., THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE-CHANGES ON THE DIMENSIONAL STABILITY OF POLYVINYL SILOXANE AND POLYETHER IMPRESSION MATERIALS, The Journal of prosthetic dentistry, 79(6), 1998, pp. 626-631
Statement of problem. Dental impressions are commonly mailed to remote
dental laboratories and can be subjected to extreme temperature chang
es; however, the effects of these temperature changes on the accuracy
of elastomeric impression materials are unknown. Purpose. This study e
valuated the dimensional changes of polyether and polyvinyl siloxane i
mpression materials as a function of storage temperature. Material and
methods. A total of 144 impressions were made of a stainless steel di
e similar to ADA Specification No. 19. Half of the impressions were ma
de in perforated custom trays and the other half in solid trays. Measu
rements of the vertical and horizontal lines on the impressions were m
ade at 10 minutes, 1 hour, 24 hours, and 26 hours, and storage tempera
tures ranged from 4 degrees C to 40 degrees C. Results. Changes in sto
rage temperature had a statistically significant effect on the dimensi
onal stability of the horizontal and vertical lines. However, overall
dimensional changes were extremely small. Conclusions. Storing both im
pression materials at 4 degrees C for 24 hours and then allowing the i
mpressions to reach room temperature resulted in a slightly expanded i
mpression that partially compensated for the contraction that occurred
from polymerization shrinkage. Similar results occurred for polyether
material only, when stored at 40 degrees C.