[Changes of the elastomer impression materials after their immersion in some disinfection agents for AIDS infection control purposes].

Abstract

In achieving infection control in the dental office and the dental laboratory it has been suggested that impressions made in the dental office should be disinfected before they are send to the dental laboratory. In this study we examined the solubility and the linear changes of some elastomer impression materials after their immersion in disinfection agents after ten, twenty and forty minute time intervals. The disinfection agents used were: 75% alcohol, domestic chlorine 10%, the agent sterile pack (isopropyl alcohol) and 2% activated glutaraldehyde (SIDEX). Water was used as control. Our findings show that all types of elastomer impression materials appear to suffer insignificant changes both linear and weight-wise but polyether impression materials show significant changes in almost all the disinfection agents that were used and the time intervals that were studied.