INVESTING AND
CASTING
PROCEDURES
Introduction
Investment material and Investing
Properties of an investment material
Classification of an investment
material
INTRODUCTION:
One of the major advances in dentistry
is the adoption of the casting practice
for making
inlays ,onlays ,crowns ,bridges ,partial
dentures or other metallic restorations.
Gold alloys ,semi precious and base
metal-alloys have been used in the
fabrication of cast dental restorations .
These metals are cast requiring what is
called the lost wax technique.
Such casting procedures involve:
1. Fabrication of a wax pattern and attaching
it to a suitable sprue.
2. Placing the wax pattern and sprue to a
crucible former.
3. Investing the wax pattern by surrounding
it with a suitable mold material called
(Investment) which is placed around the wax
pattern and allowed to harden.
4. Burning out the wax pattern in a suitable
furnace and heating the mold.
5. Melting the alloy and forcing it into the
mold to fill it and produce the desired
casting.
6.The casting is then separated from the
sprue and button , cleaned , finished ,
polished and finally cemented.
An investment material:
Can be described as a ceramic material that
is suitable for forming a mold into which a
metal or alloy is cast.
Investing:
Is the operation of forming the mold.
Properties of an
investment material
1.Properties for manipulation:
1. It should be inexpensive and easy to
obtain.
2. It should be easy to mix into a
slurry(mixture of solid suspended in liquid
usually water) with available liquids.
3. It should be free of bubbles when mixed.
4.It should flow readily and be able to
produce the fine details of the wax pattern.
5. It should have a low contact angle.
6. It should have no adverse chemical
reaction with wax.
7. When hardened :
a. It should have adequate strength.
b. It should produce smooth and
continuous surfaces.
2. Properties for compensation:
It should have enough expansion upon
hardening and heating to compensate for
the shrinkage of the wax pattern and the
metal that takes place during solidification
and cooling.
3. Properties for casting:
1. The investment should not only maintain
its room temperature strength, but also
should gain strength upon heating.
At room temperature: to resist fracture during
removal of the sprue and former.
At high temperature: to support the impact of
molten metals upon casting.
2. The investment should not generate gases
upon casting or gases that can react with liquid
metals causing deterioration of their properties
.
3.The investment should have sufficient
porosity to allow for the escape of gases. The
pores should be small in size to maintain the
smoothness of surfaces.
4. Properties for finishing:
1. Investment materials should be fairly
weak after casting to allow easy recovery of
the cast.
2. Investment materials should not react
with the cast to avoid adherence to cast
surfaces and allow easy separation of cast
and investment.
Classification of dental
investment material
1.According to the type of binder:
1. Gypsum (sulphate )-bonded investment.
2.Phosphate –bonded investment.
3. Silicate –bonded investment.
2. According to the American Dental
Association , it classifies it according to
usage and type of expansion:
1. Type I: Inlay ,thermal.
2. Type II: Inlay ,hygroscopic.
3. Type III: partial denture ,thermal.
1.Gypsum-bonded investment:
composition:
1. Silica: 60-65%
2. Gypsum 30-35%
3. Graphite ,Boric acid or sodium chloride.
Indications:
Used with alloys that do not require heating
the investment to a temperature over
700degrees centigrade (gold alloys).
Heating above this temperature will cause
gypsum to decompose.
Investment Expansion
Investment expansion is the means to
induce expansion of the mold cavity in order
to compensate for the contraction caused
by shrinkage of wax and cast alloys during
solidification and cooling . Accurate control
of investment expansion is essential to
obtain exactly fitting castings. Investment
expansion could be achieved by :
1. Setting expansion.
2. Hygroscopic expansion.
3. Thermal expansion.
1.Setting expansion:
Setting of gypsum bonded investment
involves the conversion of hemihydrate of
calcium sulphate to the di-hydrate as
mentioned earlier. Expansion accompanies
this process is due to the growth of crystal
arms of spherulite. The setting expansion as
means of compensation is limited by the
ADA specification No.2 to 0.5% only as it
may lead to inaccuracies if allowed to
exceed this amount.
2. Hygroscopic expansion:
Is achieved by allowing the gypsum-bonded
investment to set while in contact with
water this could be done by either :
1. Immersion technique.
2. water-added technique.
1. Immersion technique:
In this technique ,the investment is mixed
and poured around the wax pattern inside a
rubber ring and allowed
to set in air until initial setting is achieved
( evidenced by loss of gloss) which takes
about 5 minutes , and this
is followed by immersion in water at 38
degrees centigrade.
2. Water added technique:
In this technique, a rubber ring is used and
water is added by a syringe following initial
setting. More expansion is achieved with the
continuing water addition till a critical point
is reached when water addition does not
cause any further expansion.
The water added technique is more
accurate than the immersion technique.
More expansion is achieved with hygroscopic
expansion than with setting expansion.
Factors affecting setting and hygroscopic
expansion:
They increase with :
1.Finer particle size of silica.
2.Increased spatulation time.
3.Increase spatulation rate.
4.Elevation of water temperature.
They decrease with:
1.Increased water/powder ratio.
2.Age of the investment and moisture
contamination on storage.
3. Delay in the time of immersion.
3. Thermal expansion:
In this technique compensation for the wax
and alloy contraction is achieved through
thermal expansion of the investment
specifically the silica component .
Silica occurs naturally in three forms:
Quartz , Tridymite , and Cristobalite.
Quartz and Cristobalite exist in two forms:
A stable form at room temperature:
alpha form.
A stable form at high temperature: Beta
form.
The inversion of the alpha form into the
beta form is accompanied by expansion.
Cooling of the investment:
On cooling to room temperature it contracts
,on reheating it does not expand thermally
to the previous level however , the process
of cooling and reheating causes internal
cracks in the investment ; a feature that
can affect the quality of the casting.
Properties of gypsum –bonded
investments:
Although they cannot be considered perfect ,the
gypsum-bonded investments are very satisfactory
and meet most of the requirements.
1.The total expansion of the mold is
sufficient to compensate for the contraction
of all gold alloys about (1.5%).
2. The consistency is good and the particle
size is adequate for reproduction of fine
details.
3.The setting time can be easily controlled
with additives if necessary.
4.The material has sufficient strength to
withstand the casting process and may be
removed easily from the casting.
5.The set material is porous to help the
escape of gases during casting.
2. Phosphate –bonded
investments:
Differs from the gypsum bonded
investments in two respects:
1. The setting reaction is not simple.
2. The phosphate can react with Sio 2
to give superior strength.
Composition:
Powder:
Silica: 80% of the powder
Ammonium di-hydrogen phosphate :
acts as a source of phosphate ions.
Magnesium oxide: reacts with
phosphate ions in solution to give
magnesium ammonium phosphate
which acts as a binder.
Liquid:
suspension of sio2 in water
Properties:
1.Expansion:
- Phosphate-bonded investments can be
mixed either with water or silica solution.
-They possess higher setting expansion
when mixed with silica solution than with
water.
2.Porosity:
It is less porous than gypsum-bonded
investments so the expel of gases is
difficult.
3. strength:
This material is quite strong and does not
disintegrate on quenching.
4.Limitations:
The material can be safely used up to
around 1000 degrees centigrade. Metals
melting at 1400 degrees centigrade can
raise the temperature of the investment to
about 1000 degrees centigrade and could
cause surface breakdown and reaction
with the investment giving rough castings.
3.Silicate-bonded investments:
Powder:
Consists of silica , glass , MgO and similar
materials.
Liquid:
Ethyl silicate ,water, alcohol , colloidal
silica.
Setting reaction:
1. Stage I :
Ethyl silicate reacts with water to
form silicic acid and ethyl alcohol.
(hydrolysis)
2.Stage II:
The silicic acid reacts to form a gel in
the presence of MgO which allows
setting. (Gelation)
3.stage III:
On heating ,water and alcohol are removed leaving
a mold made of SiO2 particles tightly packed
together .
Properties:
1. Dimensional change:
Contraction (0.3-0.4%) occurs due to loss of water
and alcohol in the first two stages.
Thermal expansion is large enough (1.7-2.1%) to
compensate for all the shrinkage associated with
the lost wax and casting process .This large
expansion is possible because the investment % of
silica is very high.
2. Strength:
As-fired, strength is sufficient to produce
good surface finish , fit , and sharp detail.
3. Porosity:
The particles are so packed together that
the porosity is negligible , air spaces must
be left in the investment to permit escape
of air from the mold.
