A review of contemporary impression materials and techniques

The contemporary restorative dentist has a host of impression materials available for making impressions in fixed prosthodontics,implant dentistry, and operative dentistry. With proper material selection and manipulation, accurate impressions can be obtained for fabrication of tooth- and implant-supported restorations. This article outlines the ideal properties of impression materials and explains the importance of critical manipulative variables. Available impression materials are analyzed relative to these variables, and several "specialized" impression techniques are described. Special attention is paid to polyvinyl siloxane impression materials because they have become the most widely used impression material in restorative dentistry.