Comparing Hydrophilicity of VPS Materials in the Unset Stage

Objectives: To evaluate the initial water contact angles of seven VPS wash materials in the unset stage using a standardized method in an effort to determine which material(s) would produce the most accurate impression.

Methods: The hydrophilic properties of VPS wash materials were determined by the commercially available Drop Shape Analysis System DSA 30 (Kruss). Materials tested included six marketed VPS light body products: Aquasil UltraLV Fast Set (AQU, DENTSPLY,LOT#100608), EXA'lance Light Body Regular Set (ELB, GC America Inc.,LOT#1012131), Flexitime Light Flow (FLF, Heraeus,LOT#350024), Imprint 3 Quick Step Light Body (IQS, 3M ESPE,LOT#439507), Panasil Initial Contact Light (PCL, Kettenbach,LOT#110251), Take 1 Advantage Light Body Wash (TAL, Kerr,LOT#34149). In addition one experimental VPS light body was tested, Experimental Wash (EXP, 3M ESPE, Lab-FW-Misch-0574). Samples were collected (n=6) for each material at room temperature (23°C) and measurements were recorded at 25frames/second. Contact angles 20-seconds after start of mix at 2-second drop age were used as a basis for comparison. A one-way ANOVA and a Tukey test were conducted to determine the statistical significance (Minitab version 15).

Results:

Contact Angle Values at 2-seconds
Materials (n=6)	Mean(SD)
AQU	69.2(1.3)f
ELB	64.2(1.3)e
EXP	23.2(0.7)a
FLF	45.2(0.4)b
IQS	53.1(0.9)c
PCL	57.6(3.5)d
TAL	53.1(1.8)c
Materials with the same letters are not significantly different from each other.

Conclusions: All materials showed contact angles small enough to be considered hydrophilic (θ<90). Experimental Wash was found to have the lowest mean contact angle (23.183°, p<0.05), indicating that when taking an impression this material may have the most rapid hydrophilic effect, possibly producing an impression with more detail.  The clinical relevance has yet to be tested.