Insertion forces of conventional and new automixed putty impression materials

Objectives: One distinctive property of conventional putty impression materials is a certain insertion force due to its high consistency. Goal of this study is to compare the insertion force of conventional handmix putty materials to a new automix VPS putty impression material. Methods: The new Express Penta Putty (3M ESPE, EXPR) was compared to handmixed products: Optosil Comfort Putty (Heraeus Kulzer, OPTO), President Putty Fast Soft (Coltene, PRES), Panasil Putty Soft (Kettenbach, PANA). To differentiate putties from heavy bodies, Dimension Penta H Quick (3M ESPE, DIME) was added to the comparison. For the automixed materials a new low force mixing tip was applied. All materials were mixed for exactly 30 seconds before testing. The test itself took place at a testing machine (Zwick Z010) to guarantee reproducible results. Equal quantities of each putty were placed between special formed stamps, which were moved together with the same velocity until a defined distance was reached. During this movement the insertion force of the different putties was recorded. Results: The insertion forces were (units in N, SD in brackets): EXPR: 3423,0 (500,0), OPTO: 2256,7 (132,4), PRES: 3489,1 (336,6), PANA: 3647,2 (235,9) and DIME: 1288,7 (175,3). As shown by ANOVA (p < 0,05) the range of the insertion force of putties in this study is in the area of 2000 to 4000 N. The values of the heavy body impression material DIME were significantly below this range. Conclusion: With respect to the insertion force the automixable material EXPR shows typical putty properties and offers characteristics similar to handmixed ones.