There are noticeable differences between the materials and methods currently used

by prosthodontists for final impressions

Distinct trends for increasing use of polyvinylsiloxane and polyether for border
molding procedures and impressions of edentulous arches were observed. They are
well suited for making complete denture impressions.
The literature reports about many different techniques of anatomical and functional
impressions, as well as about different types of impression materials
Even though there are wide variations in individual preferences for a particular
material or method,
whether any one combination of material and technique produces any better longterm results in terms of complete denture performance than another is a question
that remains open due to a lack of strong evidence.
preferences for materials appear to have greatly changed over the years
There was variability of the materials and techniques used for final impressions by
ACP members and dental schools; however, overall there was an agreement on the
materials and techniques used by prosthodontists and dental schools. Distinct
trends for increasing use of polyvinylsiloxane and polyether for border molding
procedures and impressions of edentulous arches were observed
Over the past few years, new materials have been introduced for border moulding.
A retrospective comparison between two groups of 78 edentulous patients each
who had received complete dentures fabricated with two different materials for
border moulding (grey modeling plastic impression compound and heavy-body PVS
impression material) needed the same number of post-insertion visits for
adjustments during the first year (on average 2.68 in both groups).22
Drago CJ. A retrospective comparison of two definitive impression techniques and
their associated postinsertion adjustments in complete denture prosthodontics.
Journal of Prosthodontics 2003;12:1927.
When examined critically, the published literature could not provide sufficiently
robust information with which to answer the question whether a generally
recommendable, expedient protocol for complete denture impressions is
identifiable.
The original material used for border molding is low fusing compound3 and other
materials used are
autopolymerising resins, polyether, putty elastomeric impression materials, mouth
temperature waxes and soft liners.4

Felton DA, Cooper LF, Scurria MS. Predictable impression procedures for complete
dentures. J Prosthet Dent 1996;40:39 -51.
Low fusing compound has been made use for border molding impression trays since
it was introduced by green brothers in 1907. However, border molding using low
fusing impression compound usually requires separate applications of the material
to different sections of the tray borders which can be quite messy. Manipulation of
the border tissues which demands a great deal of experience and judgment on
operators part to conform thermoplastic material to vestibule. Stage by stage or
incremental border molding leaves much to be desired since only a part of
functional depth of the vestibular sulcus and associated musculature molds to the
periphery of the tray during each insertion. Ideally the material should contact the
entire vestibular sulcus area at one insertion and not mold the periphery of the
tissues initially in one area and subsequently the remaining areas in stages.
Many other materials such as Vinyl polysiloxane; perio pack; light polymerized resin;
waxes exist to record the functional and physiologic borders of the denture.
A material which will allow simultaneous moldings of all borders has two general
advantages: The number of insertions of the trays for maxillary and mandibular
border molding could be reduced to two, a great time and motion advantage.
Development of all borders simultaneously avoids propagation of errors caused by a
mistake in one section affecting the border contours in another section
Many different materials have been tried for border molding in the past.
Solomon[12] studied the single stage silicone border molded closed mouth
impression technique. using putty silicone material as a substitute for low fusing
compound. Mittal et al.[13] stated an impression technique with one stage border
molding using putty silicone material as substitute for low fusing compound and
light body silicone as substitute for low fusing compound and light body silicone as
substitute for metallic oxide paste. Furthermore, Kinra et al.[14] presented an
innovative impression technique for complete dentures. A single stage border
molding using putty silicone impression material is presented as an alternative to
conventional border molding.
Solomon EG. Single stage silicone border molded closed mouth impression
Technique-part II. J Indian Prosthodont Soc 2011;11:183-8.
13. Mittal S, Gupta D, Sharma H. Single step silicone border molding technique for
edentulous impression. Int J Clin Cases Invest 2012;4:85-90.
14. Kinra MS, Verma R, Nagpal A, Verma PR, Kalra A, Kinra M. Innovative impression
technique for complete denture patients. Indian J Dent Sci 2013;5:34-6.

Qureshi and Rashid[15] critically evaluated the materials and procedures used for
functional peripheral molding of special trays. It was concluded that use of
thermoplastic compound should be kept to minimum due to availability of simpler
technique and easy to handle and accurate modern materials like polyether for
single step border molding, nonbrittle waxes and light polymerized resin requiring
less armamentarium
The borders recorded with low fusing impression compound were wider but shorter
than polyether. As low fusing impression compound is not thixotropic material, it
slumps because of gravity and no manipulation was done by the operator to push
the material into the sulcus. Further as it lacks thixotropicity, it cannot maintain its
height when bulk is added along the border. The subsequent functional movements
would be less effective in reducing the thickness of the borders because of short
working time and high viscosity of low-fusing impression compound.
Arora AK, Goyal I, Sehgal M. Comparative evaluation of reproducibility of peripheral
tissues produced by different border molding materials in edentulous patients: An in
vivo study. J Indian Prosthodont Soc 2015;15:102-10.
Within the limitation of this clinical study border molding custom tray with low
fusing green stick compound provided similar retention as compared to custom
impression tray with condensation silicone in permanent denture base. In this study
evaluation of retentive values of sectional border molding (Group I) (custom
impression trays border molded with green stick compound ) and single step border
molding (Group II) (deal of experience and judgment on operators part to conform
thermoplastic material to vestibule. Stage by stage or incremental border molding
leaves much to be desired since only a part of functional depth of the vestibular
sulcus and associated musculature molds to the periphery of the tray during each
insertion. Ideally the material should contact the entire vestibular sulcus area at one
insertion and not mold the periphery of the tissues initially in one area and
subsequently the remaining areas in stages. border molding with condensation
silicone (putty) impression material ).

Yarapatineni R, Vilekar A, Kumar JP, Kumar GA, Aravind P, Kumar PA. Comparative
evaluation of border molding, using two different techniques in maxillary edentulous
arches - An in vivo study. J Int Oral Health 2013; 5(6):82-7.
border molding procedures, the majority of prosthodontists primarily use modeling
plastic impression compound (67%); however, some prosthodontists are using
elastomeric materials such as polyvinylsiloxane (12% use it primarily and 17%
alternatively) and polyether (7% use it primarily and 11% alternatively)

The most popular material for border molding was plastic modeling compound (67%
of reporting ACP members and 95% of the responding dental schools); however,
there are distinct trends for increasing use of polyvinylsiloxane and polyether for
border molding procedures by both members of the ACP and U.S. dental schools.
Years of experience had a statistically significant effect on the materials used by
prosthodontists for border molding procedures. Prosthodontists who completed their
training more recently (<10 years) were more likely to use the more contemporary
materials (polyvinylsiloxane and polyether)
Cynthia S. Petrie, DDS, MS;1 Mary P. Walker, DDS, PhD;2 and Karen Williams A
Survey of U.S. Prosthodontists and Dental Schools on the Current Materials and
Methods for Final Impressions for Complete Denture Prosthodontics Journal of
Prosthodontics, Vol 14, No 4 ( December), 2005: pp 253-262
A material which will allow simultaneous moldings of all borders has two general
advantages: (1) the number of insertions of the trays for maxillary and mandibular
border molding could be reduced to two, a great time and motion advantage; and
(2) development of all borders simultaneously avoids propagation of errors caused
by a mistake in one section affecting the border contours in another section.
The requirements of a material to be used for simultaneous molding of all borders
are that it should (1) have sufficient body to allow it to remain in position on the
borders during loading of the tray, (2) allow some preshaping of the form of the
borders without adhering to the fingers, (3) have a setting time of 3 to 5 minutes,
(4) retain adequate flow while seating in the mouth, (5) allow finger placement of
the material into deficient parts after seating the tray, (6) not cause excessive
displacement of the tissues of the vestibule, and (7) be readily trimmed andshaped
so that excess material can be carved and the borders shaped before the final
impression is made.
Heavy bodied silicone materials do not allow preshaping, placement into deficient
spaces with a finger after insertion, and are difficult to trim after setting.
Polyether impression materials* meet all of the requirements previously listed.
Dale E. Smith, D.D.S., M.S.D.,* L. Brian Toolson, D.D.S., M.S.D.,**
Charles L. Bolender, D.D.S., M.S.,*** and James L. Lord, One-step border molding of
complete denture impressions using a polyether impression material MARCH jpd
1979 VOLUME 41 NUMBER 3 347-351
Bhat V, Shetty S, Kamath J, Shenoy KK. A Simple Method to Check the Border
Extensions of Custom Tray. Ann. Int. Med. Den. Res. 2016;2(1):31-2.