Heat generation in plaster-of-Paris and resulting hand burns

Four female pupils at a technical school received hand burns while trying to make moulds of their hands using a dental plaster instead of ordinary plaster-of-Paris. In three cases the burns were so severe that several fingers had to be amputated due to irreversible tissue damage. The severity of the burns is explained on the basis of an experimental study where it was demonstrated that the temperature of hardening dental plaster rose to 70 degrees C and had a hardness that was 10-times greater than ordinary plaster-of-Paris. This should serve as a warning against the use of dental plaster in direct casting of living tissue. However, the technique used here is also considered dangerous, as ordinary plaster-of-Paris under certain circumstances could also cause severe burns.