Experimental Evaluation of Wettability of Condensational Silicon's Used with Various Surfactants

One of the problems in fixed prosthetics is the hydrophobicity and large contact angle of the condensation silicon impression materials. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of surfactant on three condensation silicones. This study was an in-vitro examination that investigates the effect of surfactant called “Os surfactant” on three condensation silicone impression materials which were Optosil-Xantopren, Speedex and Rapid. One Hundred and twenty impressions were prepared by each material and every sample consisted of 4mm putty and 1mm wash. 10 samples were considered as control group with no surfactant added. The rest were divided into 11 groups on which 11 surfactants with different hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLBs) (5-5. 5-6-6. 5-7-7. 5-8-8. 5-9-9. 5-10) were applied. A drop of water was put on the surface and a photo was taken immediately so that the contact angles on both sides of drop could be measured by Photoshop. The data was examined by One-Way ANOVA and Tukey test (α=0.05). The one way analyze of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey test showed that in Optosil/Xantopren group the lowest contact angle belonged to HLB=9 (P<0.001). in rapid samples, a significant difference was shown among different HLBs and control group and the lowest contact angle was gained by HLB=8.5 (P=0.011). Speedex showed a significant difference between different HLBs and control group and the lowest contact angle was obtained by HLB=8 (P<0.001). Accordingly the lowest contact angle mean belonged to Speedex (68.3) which revealed a significant difference from Optosil Xantopren and Rapid (P<0.001) but there was no difference between Optosil-Xantopren and Rapid (P>0.05). Within limitation of present In-vitro study, the lowest contact angle was observed at HLB 9 for Optosil (P<0.001), HLB 8. 5 for Rapid (P=0.011) and at HLB 8 for Speedex (P<0.001).