Abstract:
This study was aimed to investigate the effect of two different disinfectant agents on the dimen-sional stability of commercially available modern alginate impression materials in terms of syneresis and imbibition. Two disinfection agents; Chlorox® (5.25%sodium hypochlorite) and Practice safe®, (alcohol based) were used to assess the dimensional stability of five commercially available alginate impression materials including Cavex CA37®, Cavex Color Change®, Tulip®, Cavex Cream Alginate®, and TOL®. Artificial Saliva treated samples were used as control group. To obtain a measure of im-bibition, weights of sample discs of the impression materials were measured before and immediately after disinfection. For syneresis, disinfected sample discs were weighed at thirty minutes and then after a twenty four hour time interval. Repeat Measure Analysis of variance was employed to identify statistically significant differences within groups and across groups. The results have shown that all impression materials showed minimum change in weight while treated with Chlorox®, whereas Practice safe® caused large changes in weight. Cavex Cream® Alginate showed minimum change immediately after disinfection, but after thirty minutes, Cavex CA 37®showed the overall least change in weight. It can be concluded that Chlorox® should be preferred over Practice safe® as a disinfectant medium for newer alginates. Cavex Cream® Alginate disinfected with Chlorox® is the most stable immediately after disinfection, but Cavex CA 37® disinfected with Chlorox® is more ideal for delayed pouring. However, further research related to the comparison of detail reproducibility is recommended.
