Background: Maintenance of contact of the denture border with the adjacent vestibular tissues during rest as well as in function is an important criterion of denture success that depends on proper border tracing. Different border moulding materials are available for achievement of that goal although many clinicians deliver excellent denture without border trimming procedure.
The aim of this study is firstly to evaluate the time needed to perform sectional border molding with two different border tracing materials and to compare the retention of the finished impressions with non-border molded impression.
Material and method: Twelve completely edentulous patients were selected and signed consents to evaluate the retention provided by three different final impression techniques (sectional border moulding of a special tray with low fusing compound and final wash with medium bodied silicone material, sectional border tracing of a special tray with putty elastomeric impression material followed by a final wash with medium bodied silicone material and third impression with special tray without border moulding). A stop watch was used to record the time needed to finish the border moulding in the first two impression technique, then a digital force meter was used to measure retention strength provided by each technique.
Results: The statistical analysis showed extremely significant difference between the time needed to finish border moulding with putty silicone material and that with the low fusing compound. Moreover, no significant difference was detected between the three impressions techniques.
Conclusion: Putty silicone material allows faster, easier and effective border moulding procedure rather than low fusing compound. Medium body silicone material in special tray without border moulding yielded highly retentive impression comparable to those with different border tracing materials.