Influence of heating rate in thermal expansion of dental phosphate-bonded investment material.

The thermal expansion of a phosphate-bonded investment material was tested when three heating rates were used during the heating procedure. One of them was too low, one too high, and the third, in the middle. The examination was done through the fit of 12 MOD inlays and 12 full crowns in steel master dies. From the results it can be concluded that rates that are too fast must be avoided in the heating procedure, because they reduce the thermal expansion of the phosphate-bonded investment material and thus produce castings with limited fit.