Dimensional stability of alginate impression materials.

Introduction: In 2001, Cavex presented the first test results, which showed 5 days dimensional stability for Cavex ColorChange. More than 10 years we used this information to show our customers the high quality and stability of our products. In the meantime, our Research & Development department worked on improvements of the alginate impression materials. We formed close cooperation’s with suppliers to understand more the chemistry of the used ingredients and discussed the important characteristics of alginate impression materials with our dealers all over the world. As a result, slight improvements were obtained for the Cavex alginates. In 2010, we launched a project together with the department Dental Material Science of ACTA (University of Amsterdam). Goal was to make a total evaluation of 6 major brands of alginate impression materials (CAVEX CA37, JELTRATE, AROMA FINE, HYDROGUM, KROMOPAN, COLORCHANGE). The main topics of the research were defined: dimensional stability, compressive strength, density, acidity (pH)