A comparative evaluation of tear strength and tensile strength of autoclavable and non-autoclavable vinylpolysiloxane impression material: An in vitro study

Aim: To evaluate and compare the tear strength and tensile strength of autoclavable vinylpolysiloxane impression material Affinis with non-autoclavable Aquasil. Materials and Methods: In this study, a total of 80 specimens of two vinylpolysiloxane impression materials (Affinis and Aquasil) were evaluated. Twenty specimens each for evaluating tear strength and tensile strength were fabricated for both Affinis Regular body (Coltene Whaledent, Altstatten, Switzerland) and Aquasil Monophase (Dentsply DeTrey, Konstanz, Germany). The specimens were randomly selected and divided equally between control (no autoclave or no disinfection) and experimental groups (autoclave or disinfection). All the samples were tested after 24h using an Instron Universal Testing Machine (Instron 3366, Norwood, Massachusetts) and were loaded until failure. The differences in mean values were compared with control group and were analyzed using independent sample t test (P < 0.05). Results: The results showed that autoclaving had no significant effect on tear strength and tensile strength of Affinis, and disinfection had no significant effect on tear strength and tensile strength of Aquasil. However, the tear strength and tensile strength of Aquasil before disinfecting was significantly higher than that of Affinis before autoclaving. A similar pattern was observed for disinfected Aquasil compared to autoclaved Affinis. Conclusion: Owing to no statistically significant effect of autoclaving on the tested properties of Affinis and no statistically significant effect of disinfection on the tested properties of Aquasil, these materials can be sterilized via these methods to eliminate all disease-causing microorganisms.