Gypsum products and investment Gypsum: is a mineral that is found in nature. We use it in dentistry as (Dental applications): i. ii. iii.

Impression materials: Mostly it is used as dies, study models and casts. Making replicas (duplicate of a cast).

In terms of ideal properties we need this material to be: 1. Dimensionally stable and accurate as possible 2. Easy to use 3. Inert 4. Inexpensive 5. Good strength 6. Good abrasion resistant 7. Good color contrast 8. Accurate reproduction of fine detail. 9. Easy to manipulate These properties are usually found in most of the materials that we use in the lab.

So in nature the chemical material of gypsum is calicium sulfate dihydrate (dihydrate means it has two molecules of water). This is how it is available in nature, when manufacturers try to extract and work with it. First they dehydrate it a little bit so they turn it into Ca sulfate hemihydrate (1 molecule of water) and they make several types of gypsum in form of powder and they sell it. And when you want to use it and pour it to make an impression you have to mix it with water. So when you mix it with water you will form Ca sulfate dehydrate. So once it is heated by manufacturers it is converted from dehydrate to hemihydrate, and when you mix it with water in the lab heat is produced so this reaction is what we call exothermic reaction. And you can feel that when you pour your impression with gypsum and you touch your model or cast it will be slightly warm. And once it cools off you know that it is completely set. Recall: the reaction is exothermic (produces heat) once the powder is mixed with water. It is used when we do indirect restoration. Indirect means that you do part of the work in the clinic, you take an impression send it to the lab and this material is used in the lab by the technicians to make casts or models which can be used for treatment planning, diagnosis or constructing your actual restoration (whether it is a crown, a bridge, partial or complete denture).

In terms of chemistry as we said dehydrate is heated by the manufacturer to produce hemihydrates. Now this manufacturing process gives us different types of products with different properties different types of powders. If the manufacturer grasps or take this Ca sulfate dehydrate from nature (from rocks) heat it under the atmospheric pressure to a 115 degree the powder particle that results is irregular and porous and we call it plaster. Now if the processing is slightly different if it is heated under pressure in a chamber the particles will be more regular and less porous which gives us dental stone. More pressure will give us more regular powder particles and less porosity in the particles. If this stone material is mixed with silica. It gives us a new material called investment. The advantage of this investment material is that it can handle very high temperatures. And these high temperatures are used when we make metal restorations. Because you are actually melting the metal and placing it inside mold made of this investment material. When you are melting a metal you are reaching a temperature of 1000 and above. So you need your model material to be strong enough and be able to handle this heat without breaking off. Thats why investment material which is made of gypsum (stone) and silica can handle very high

temperature associated melting metal when we make crowns ,bridges and any other metal based restorations.

Again this is the setting reaction [gypsum powder] +[H2O] [gypsum]+[heat] You can change the rate of the reaction by using accelerators ( make the reaction quicker and the setting time shorter) or retarders (make the reaction slower and the setting time longer). This is the material before and after mixing with water. When you mix it in the lab crystals starts to form and polymerization will occur and the material will become hard and more resistant gradually. Calcium Sulfate Hemihydrate Calcium SulfateDihydrate

Gypsum products Plaster Stone

 High strength/low expansion stone High strength/high expansion stone Specialty Stones Investment Materials Why do I want the material to expand alittle bit? Ideally I want my cast to have as same dimension as my impression. I dont want it to change its dimensions a lot. Some changes in dimension may occur but I want it to be as minimal as possible. When I work with certain restorations like crown and bridges means Im using metal...once the metal starts to cool down it will shrink a little bit. Now if it shrinks too much. What will happen to my restoration? It is going to be smaller than it should be. So I want something to compensate this shrinkage. To prevent this shrinkage from occurring to a large degree. So I need a cast material or a model material thats able to expand little bit so this model will expand little bit so if the metal shrinks this going to oppose this action. Two actions opposite to each other so the end result will be that the dimensions of my restoration will remain the same or similar to the patients tooth. This processed is used to be accurate. And it was

perfected by the manufacturers when they make this investment material and this stiff stone material. Die: is a replica of one tooth, the black material on it is called inlay wax. So that this type of restoration is called inlay. It is a cavity within the tooth that you prepare and you take an impression and send it to the lab, and then the technicians make the restoration in the form of wax and then this wax will be replaced by a metal.

Cast: replica of the whole dental arch

Slide 9: Here is how does the particles look like? As we said the manufacturing process is slightly different, thats why you got plaster (plaster of Paris) which is irregular porous particles. And heated in open kittle under (110-120) C And you got stone which is regular less porous. Heated under high pressure. And special stones that are more regular and less porous. It needs to be strong and it needs to have a good abrasion resistance good hardness of the surface because you are curving on it by wax and you use it make crowns and bridges so you need to be strong . Particles that are more regular and less porous dont need a lot of water to mix with it. Particles that have more pores in it means that you need to use more water to make the powder. So the P/W ratio (powder water ratio) for plaster is lower in comparison with stone and other products.

 When the material is more porous you need more water to mix it When the surface of the material is irregular we need more water. So plaster needs the highest amount of water among the rest of materials that are in the table slide 10 And the model and cast the result from plaster is weaker compared to the dental stones or special stones. And the reason that it has more water mixed with it. More water weaker model High strength stone is slightly different type of manufacturing, they boil it in Ca fluoride and then wash it in water and then grind it into particles. This type of material is strong and has good abrasion resistant Read table in slide10 and compare between the types of gypsum products, Again the setting expansion for high strength stone expands more than stone and special stone So that I can have good dimensional stability and I do not want my material to expand too much or shrink too much (the change must be as minimal as possible to keep the accuracy) So, the model is like your impression, like the patient mouth and finally it will fit better.

So, in properties of this material depend on how porosity of this material, the shape and the amount of water is added. Note: 1. more water >>>more porosity>>>>hardness is less. 2. More water mean the cast will be weaker (can broken easily) . So, less water is better. 3. Pores are points of weakness and cracks. 4. When the gypsum is set the solubility is not high. So, its more accurate. 5. More water>>more porosity >>>greater solubility>>>>less accuracy. So, set gypsum isnt highly soluble that mean it more accurate. Now, we should know that the impression material should be compatible to each other to copy all details. The best compatibility is between dental stone and additional silicon material so; the cast should be more accurate.

THE CALSSIFICATION OF GYPSUM: (1) Type I (impression plaster): we dont use it so much.

(2) Type II (model plaster) : a. we use it for diagnostic cast b. to make the base for articulation of stone cast c. flasking procedure for acrylic denture. **** the doctor said that she want to explain these details in the LAB. she want show us the articulation . ******

~~~Articulator~~~ Its a metal device which represents the TMJ, we use to articulate the lower and upper jaw so, its used to represent the movement of the jaws because it open and close like patient mouth . (3) Type III (dental stone): # more regular particle, less pores, less water is needed to mix with it. We use it to make complete. Partial denture we actually make restoration on it. We also use it in orthodontic models because it is more accurate. (4)Type IV:

This is high strength. We use it to make: 1- indirect restoration like crown , bridge, implant. 2- Precision attachment special type of partial denture. *** Its color is pink or green (the dental stone is yellow , plaster is gray ). (5) Type V: > Its color is blue or green and its the lowest P/W ratio. > It is the most expensive type. And it compensate for the metal shrinkage.

FINALY: you choose your material depend on its properties of the material and its clinical using for it . - Working cast >>>>> dental or special stone. - Diagnostic cast >>>>> plaster can be used.

NOTE: the water :powder ratio is very important to know when you mix the

materials together , any variation can change the properties of your study model or you cast . Because if you add More water it will be more soluble and less accurate. More powder it will be not easy to mix or manipulate. Then there will be too many bubbles. Accordingly the model will be weaker and less accurate.

The end Wish you all the best of luck

Done by Sawsan Jwaied & Hebah Ramadneh