Pressure produced on the residual maxillary alveolar ridge by different impression materials and tray design: an in vivo study.

Increased ridge resorption may occur due to inappropriate pressure applied during final impression making phase of complete denture fabrication. This study was done to evaluate the pressure applied on the residual ridge while making impressions with two tray designs (with and without spacer) using, zinc oxide eugenol and light body polyvinyl siloxane impression material. Five edentulous subjects were randomly selected. For each of the five subjects four maxillary final impressions were made and were labelled as, Group A-Impression made with tray without spacer using zinc oxide eugenol impression, Group B-Impression made with tray with spacer using zinc oxide eugenol impression material, Group C-Impression made with tray without spacer using light body polyvinyl siloxane impression material, Group D-Impression made with tray with spacer using light body polyvinyl siloxane impression material. During the impression procedure a closed hydraulic system was used to remotely measure the pressures produced in three areas. The pressure produced were calibrated according to the micro strain record. Statistical comparisons of readings were done using t test and ANOVA. The acquired data revealed that ZOE produced an average pressures value of 26.534 and 72.05 microstrain, while light body PVS produced 11.430 and 37.584 microstrain value with and without spacer respectively. Significantly high values were recorded on the vault of the palate when using trays without spacer. The use of light body polyvinyl siloxane and zinc oxide eugenol impression material showed insignificant difference. Within the limitations of this study, tray design has a significantly effected on the pressures produced, while the impression materials does not have any significant difference.