Chapter 37

Laboratory materials and Procedures

1. Safety in the Dental Laboratory
OSHA Guidelines
o Wear eye protection when needed
o Wear appropriate clothing
Lab coat
Closed toe shoes
o Not allowing food, drink, or cosmetics in the lab
o Tying long hair back and away from the face
o Following manufacturers instructions when operating
equipment
o Venting fume hoods used whenever there is a
possibility of exposure by inhalation.
o Reading labels carefully when handling chemicals
o Donning gloves whenever blood or any potentially
infectious material is handled.
o Disinfecting countertops after work is completed
o Washing hands with antimicrobial agent
o Notifying the dentist in case of accidental exposure
to infectious material
o Knowing the location of the material Safety Data
Sheets, eye wash station, the first aid kit, and fire
extinguisher in case of emergency.
a. Infection Control in the Dental Laboratory
i. Important to maintain excellent communication
between the dental office and each dental laboratory.
b. Disinfecting Impressions
i. Use manufacturers instructions
ii. After disinfected, impressions should be rinsed and
handled in aseptic manner.
iii. Articulators, case pans, and other equipment that
have no contact with patients still require cleaning
and disinfecting.
2. Dental Laboratory Equipment
a. Equipment Requiring Heat Sources
i. Used for smoothing wax surfaces
1. Alcohol torches
2. Butane torches
3. Bunsen burners
b. Vacuum Former
i. Used for rapid fabrication
1. Custom trays

2. Mouth guards
3. Splints for temporary crowns
4. Night guards for bruxism
5. Bleaching trays.
c. Articulators and Facebows
i. Articulator: a device designed to reproduce
movements of a patients mandibular arch in proper
centric occlusion to the maxillary arch.
ii. An articulator may have a facebow, which is used to
record the relationship of the maxillary arch to the
horizontal axis rotation of the mandible.
d. Dental Lathe
i. Lathe: a rotary machine used during grinding,
finishing, and polishing procedures.
e. Mixing Bowls
i. Used for mixing alginate impression and gypsum
materials.
ii. Disposable bowl liners and wooden spatulas may also
be used.
f. Vibrator
i. Used to release air bubbles and help dental plaster or
stone gypsum flow into the mold.
g. Model Trimmer
i. A model trimmer is used to trim and contour gypsum
cast models.
ii. It is kept clean, the wheel turns and water flows over
it.
3. Dental Laboratory Instruments
a. Lab spatulas have narrow or broad flexible blades
i. Best for mixing alginate impression material
b. Lab knives
i. Used to trim gypsum, dental compound, wax, custom
trays, and other materials
4. Diagnostic Cast Models
a. Gypsum Materials
i. Gypsum
1. Used to create models of a patients maxillary
or mandibular arch.
a. Plaster
i. Cast models for preliminary study,
for diagnostic reasons, to attach
casts onto articulators, and for
general use in the dental lab when
strength is not important.
b. Stone

i. Harder, denser, higher crush

strength than plaster
c. Die stone
i. Strongest gypsum product
ii. Fixed prostheses and partial
dentures.
5. Pouring Dental Models
a. Always use a clean, dry mixing bowl and spatula.
b. Measure the volume of water and weigh the powder.
c. Always add powder to water and not water to powder.
d. Spatulate thoroughly by hand, incorporating all the powder
evenly
e. Vacuum mixing with a power mixer-investor helps to
eliminate incorporation of air into the mix.
f. Hold the bowl against a vibrator for a few minutes to cause
trapped air to rise to the surface.
g. Never add water to a mix that is too thick. This interferes
with the setting properties. Discard and start over.
6. Trimming Dental Models
a. Ideal models have these characteristics
i. They clearly define three maxillary and three
mandibular frenula.
ii. They should stand together on all sides without
separating
iii. They should have a visible tuberosity and retromolar
pads
iv. They should have on one-half inch base, clear and
clean vestibule, and level teeth
v. They should present well with clean lines, without
bubbles, and with all teeth visible when viewed from
the facial.
7. Custom Impression Trays
Key features
o The material from which the tray will be made.
o The desired extension of the tray into peripheral and
posterior areas
o The thickness of any spacer to be placed on the cast
o The location of any tissue
o The position and form of a handle if used.
Problems with custom trays
o Border extensions too long or too short
o Tray too flexible due to insufficient thickness
o Tray cracked or damaged

o Improper handle position that interferes with border

molding or insertion into the mouth
o Sharp or rough edges that may irritate the patient.
a. Visible Light Cured Custom Trays
i. Light cured trays becoming more popular.
b. Acrylic Custom Trays
i. Acrylic custom trays are fabricated on the cast model
using monomer and polymer materials called methyl
methacrylate.
c. Thermoplastic Custom Trays
i. Materials very.
ii. Thermoplastic trays may be trimmed with slow-speed
carbide burs or heated with a butane torch until
pliable.
8. Dental Waxes
a. Baseplate wax: Used to create a spacer over the cast
before a custom tray is made.
b. Inlay wax: Used to prepare patterns.
c. Bite registration wax: Has metal incorporated into the wax,
the metal is copper or aluminum. Used to record the
occlusal relationship between a patients opposing arches
and for the proper articulation of the maxillary and
mandibular models.
d. Indicator wax: Usually green in color and coated with a
water-soluble adhesive on one side.
e. Sticky wax: Made of beeswax, paraffin, and resin.
f. Utility wax: red or colorless wax that comes in rope form
g. Boxing wax: used to provide a boundary for poured
gypsum materials to make the shape for the model base.
9. Compound
a. Thermodynamic materials
b. Available in stick or wafer form