An objective and subjective evaluation of dental implant impressions using vinylsiloxanether and polyether impression materials−an in vivo study

Purpose: This invivo study was planned to subjectively and objectively evaluate dental implant impressions using Vinyl Siloxanether& Polyether impression materials.Method: Two master impression were made for each of the 20 subject, with Vinyl Siloxanether ‘ID’ and Polyether ‘IM’ using the closed tray impression technique after adequate healing.These were subjectively and objectively evaluated using preset standardised criteria. The results were statistically analyzed for non-inferiority of ‘IM’ and ‘ID’ by using the Chi – Sqaure test and Fisher’s exact test for the subjective evaluation and for objective evaluation Analysis of Variance (one way ANOVA) was used.Results: On the basis of the subjective assessment of the two impressions ID showed superior ratings in terms of taste (p=0.19) as evaluated by the patient, tear resistance upon removal from mouth (p=0.018) and tear resistance upon removal from stone cast (p=0.046) as evaluated by the operator. However, in terms of clinical handling, hydrophilic properties (p=0.376) and total setting time( 0.147) there was no statistical difference between ID and IM impression materials. On the basis of objective evaluation of the two impression materials, vinyl siloxaneether appears to be a good alternative to polyether in terms of transfer accuracy from oral to model situation with respect to dental implants as there was no statistical difference between the two groups.Conclusion: Vinylsiloxanether which is a chemical combination of polyether and vinylpolysiloxane has superior mechanical and hydrophilic properties while achieving its final hardness, thereby providing accurate implant impressions for the fabrication of successful implant prosthetic restorations.