the light body and medium body vinyl polysiloxane are supplied as two pastes, and

the putty is supplied as two jars of high viscosity base and catalyst materials.
Because both the base and catalyst contain similar materials, they also have nearly
equivalent viscosities. Thus, they are much easier to mix than the condensation
silicones.
The similarity of the paste consistensies and the shear-thinning behavior of these
impression materials made the vinyl polysiloxanes suitable for an automatic
dispensing and mixing device. An example of the device is shown in a. it is
generally used for light-viscosity and medium-viscosity materials, but heavy-body
and putty materials have been modified to accomodate the automatic mixing device.
This apparatus has certain advantages compared with hand dispensing and
spatulation. With the mechanical device, there is greater uniformity in
proportioning and in mixing, less air is incorporated into the mix, and the mixing
time is reduced. Also there are fewer possibilities for contamination of the
material.
The mixed impression material is ejected into the adhesive-coated tray or onto the
[repared teeth if the syring tip is in place.
The basic automatic mixers sold by various manufacturers are interchangeable, but
the double spiral mixing tips are not. The tips vary in diameter, in length, and
perhaps more impotantly, in number of spiral unit within the tip. More units
provide more thorough mixing. Thus, an impession material that is uniformly mixed
in a 13-spiral unit maybe inadequately mixed in an 11-spiral tip.
One caution in using these automatic mixing devices is to make sure that the
opening of the tubes that dispense the pasts remain unclogged. Often the color
difference of the two pastes is so slight that itis difficult to determine visually
if the proper amounts of base and catalyst pastes have been mixed together.
Problems can be avoided if asmall amount is extruded from the cartridge of
materials before mixing tip is attached. The lack of color difference also makes it
difficult to ensure that the mix is homogenous. However, investigation of the
automatic mixing devices has demonstrated that the mix is adquate if the device is
used properly.

As previuosly mentioned, some putties can be automatically mixed, and some are
supplied in a jar with the proper quatity measured by volume. Initially, the putty-
wash application of the vinyl polysiloxanes was extremely popular; however, current
trends do not favor this impression technique. The single-viscosity or monophase
impression materials are becoming more popular. These materials are supplied as two
components: a base and a catalyst. The difference is that one mix of the materials
is used for both syringe material and the tray material. When used is conjunction
with the automatic mixing devices, the monophase material is the most convenient
for the pratitioner.

In contrast with the condensation silicones, the curing rate of the addition
silicones appears to be even more sensitive to ambient temperature than are the
polysulfides. Working and setting times can be extended (up to 100%) by the
addition of a retarder as supplied by the respective manufacturer and by cooling
the mixing slab. The additon silicones can also be refrigerated before use. This
cooling has little effecton viscosity. once the impression material is in the mout,
it warms rapidly, and the setting time is not extended as much as when chemical
retarder is used. Retarders are impratical with the automatic mixing devices.
However, because the automatic mixers speed up the preparation step, the net effect
is a longer working time without slowing down the setting time. The ease and speed
of transferring the material into the mouth have create a demand for a shorter
setting time. Several manufacturers sell a fast-setting material along with the
regular-setting vinyl polisiloxanes. Test of the properties indicated a little
difference between the accelerated setting material and the material that sets more
slowly.