Creating reliable and accurate restorative impressions

Identium^® is a new 3-viscosity, addition-curing, elastomeric impression material. It’s based on a new material, vinylsiloxanether.

Vinylsiloxanether gives Identium properties and advantages of both polyether impression materials and A-silicone impression materials. Polyether materials exhibit dimensional stability and wettability. A-silicones exhibit high elastic recovery with flexibility for mouth removal and have a neutral or good taste. 

One of the most challenging procedures clinicians face in dentistry is obtaining an ideal impression for fixed restorations. Making an accurate impression requires precise preparation of the margins, thorough management of the surrounding gingival tissues, a good understanding of impression material properties and the correct use of impression trays.

The evaluation

A recent evaluation conducted by several commercial dental laboratories determined 86 percent of crown and bridge impressions contained at least one detectable error and 55 percent contained a critical error related to the finish line.¹

A quality, reliable impression material is critical. Retaking impressions is both time- and material-consuming and an expense that should be minimized.

When considering past errors that necessitated impression retakes, our reviewers ranked missed margins as the No. 1 reason. Bubbles/voids, tear errors and distortion errors followed missed margins. Also noted were fin/folds, contamination, lack of integration between tray and injected material, inadequate working time for multi-unit impressions and incorrect tray selection. Impression errors result in ill-fitting restorations followed by restoration failure (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

A majority of our reviewers rated Identium “better or much better” than their current impression material. The reviewers cited the viscosity of light body, tray seating resistance, syringing ease, working time around multiple units, tray loading and, most importantly, consistent readable margins as favorable.

When rating performance by individual impression characteristics, our clinicians found Identium better than their current material when considering gingival margin quality, impression detail, voids and bubbles, depth of sulcus penetration, subgingival margin detail and ease of removing the impression (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2

Identium is an excellent choice for implant impressions, multi-unit impressions, impressions where isolation is compromised and impressions with subgingival preps (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3

The results

The majority of Catapult reviewers agreed Identium has improved properties compared to their current impression material. Overwhelmingly (79 percent), our reviewers state they would use it in their practices.  
Identium, the new vinylsiloxanether impression material, gives reliable and accurate restorative impressions. It’s a great choice for consistency and value. 

References

1. Rau CT, Olafsson VG, Delgado AJ, Ritter AV, Donovan TE. The quality of fixed prosthodontic impressions: an assessment of crown and bridge impressions received at commercial laboratories. JADA. 2017;148(9):654-660.