ABSTRACT:
AIM: To evaluate and compare awareness and knowledge among dental students and dental practitioners about the materials used in making secondary impressions for complete denture. OBJECTIVE: To develop a questionnaire and evaluate the knowledge among dental students and dental practitioners about the materials used in making secondary impressions for complete denture. BACKGROUND: A dental impression is a negative imprint of hard and soft tissues in the mouth. Impression materials are designed to be liquid or semi solid when first mixed and placed in the tray, and then quickly set to a solid, leaving an imprint of the structures in the mouth. An impression is made by placing a viscous, thixotropic impression material into the mouth by the custom or stock dental impression tray. The material, then sets to become an elastic solid, and ,when removed from the mouth, provides a detailed and stable negative of teeth.Common materials used for dental impressions are sodium alginate ,polyether and silicones both condensation cured silicones and addition cured silicones, such as polyvinyl siloxane,plaster of Paris, Zinc oxide eugenol and agar have been used. REASON: The purpose of the study is to understand the level of awareness and knowledge of materials used for making secondary impression for complete denture.