Influence of impression material and time on the 3-dimensional accuracy of implant impressions

Objective: To investigate, in vitro, the effect of time on the 3-dimensional accuracy of open-tray implant impression copings made of polyvinyl siloxane and polyether impression materials. Method and Materials: Reference models with 4 internal connection implants were fabricated. Four sets of 71 direct impressions were made with square impression copings using an open-tray technique. One set of impressions was made with polyether material (material A) and each of 3 polyvinyl siloxane materials (materials B, C, and D). Three-dimensional changes in spatial orientation of the implant analogs were measured over 48 hours using an optical measurement device. Deviation values were summed over 4 points and averaged per impression. Global differences were tested with a nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test followed by pairwise comparisons using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: The mean dimensional accuracy of implant impressions significantly differed over time (P .001). Materials A and B were found to produce comparable results. For materials C and D there was a significant increase in deviations, with a maximum increase at 2 hours. Deviations for material C were comparable to materials A and B at 48 hours. Baseline values were not maintained by any material. Conclusions: Within the limits of this in vitro study, it can be concluded that time cannot be neglected as a factor affecting the accuracy of implant master casts. Keywords: dental implant, impression material, master cast, optical measurement, polyether, polyvinyl siloxane, precision, three-dimensional distortion