Dental Impression Materials Useful for Making Molds of Fossils
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DENTAL IMPRESSION MATERIALS USEFUL FOR MAKING MOLDS OF FOSSILS LEONARD BRAND AND GILBERT DUPPER Paleobiology and Geology Research Group, and School of Dentistry, Lorna Linda University, Lorna Linda, California 92350 INTRODUCTION jects. Also, if casts cannot be made immedi Dental impression materials that are used ately the molds should be kept in closed plastic for making molds of teeth and gums, in situ, bags to prevent drying and excessive shrink are designed to produce high quality molds and ing. Molds sealed in plastic bags and placed to set within a few minutes in a person's mouth. in a box or loosely rolled in a can for protection These materials are also effective for making can be successfully kept for at least a week molds of fossils (Colbert, 1980, p. 203-205; under field conditions, and can be carried in Quilty and Williams, 1975), especially when a pack if necessary. the molds must be made quickly. Shrinkage of molds was experimentally ana lyzed under simulated field conditions. Five CHARACTERISTICS OF MATERIALS alginate molds were made; each approximate Two types of dental impression materials are ly 15 em x 30 em and 0.4 to 1.3 em thick. available. They have very different character Each one was placed in a separate plastic gar istics, and are both useful to the paleontologist bage bag which was closed with a wire tie. in certain situations. They were then kept outdoors in an exposed Alginate impression material (made from al but shaded place for 9 days, and the distance gae) comes in powder form and is mixed with between pairs of pencil marks was measured water, like plaster of paris. Dentists mix the periodically (Text-fig. 2). Molds can be kept alginate in rubber bowls, to reduce the for for more than a week before the casts are made, mation of bubbles. It must be mixed thor if the two to three percent shrinkage can be oughly and rapidly and then applied quickly, tolerated. If molds are not kept in plastic bags because it sets within a few minutes (Text-fig. they become hard and brittle and shrink at 1). The resulting mold can be removed as soon least 20% within a few days. To make casts as it has set. Alginate molds are pliable like with virtually no shrinkage, wrap the fresh latex, but are not permanent molds. They are alginate molds in a wet cloth, put them in a useful only in situations where a permanent plastic bag, and pour the plaster casts within cast can be made from the mold within a few one hour. days. The molds must be protected from dam The second type of dental impression ma age and from sharp bending, or they will crack. terial is a type of polysulfide rubber com Consequently, alginate molds cannot be used pounded to set rapidly (Text-fig. 1). This ma for fossils with significantly undercut surfaces, terial makes durable, long-lasting, molds with or for molding complete three dimensional ob- characteristics similar to other types of poly- JOURNAL OF PALEONTOLOGY, v. 56, NO. S, SEPTEMBER 1982 0022-3360/82/0056-1305$01.00 Copyright © 1982, The Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists and The Paleontological Society 1306 PALEONTOLOGICAL NOTES OF °c 3 90 30 w ~ 80 POLYSULFIDE w ~2 ;:) RUBBER it' "" I ~ (j) w 70 f ""n, z ::E 20 w w ~I f- w o, 60 fA 32° C OR ABOVE .. BELOW 32° C 50 10 2 3 TIME IN DAYS TIME IN MINUTES TEXT-FIG. 2-Shrinkage, in percent reduction from TEXT-FIG. i-Setting time of dental impression original length or width, of alginate molds kept materials at various ambient temperatures. Data outdoors in plastic bags. Measurements from one are from laboratory experiments, and indicate group of three and one group of two molds. time from application of mold material (after 30 to 60 seconds of mixing), until the mold can be safely removed from the fossil. Randolph Company costs about the same as plaster of paris. sulfide rubber (Rigby and Clark, 1965). It comes in tubes like toothpaste, and a tube of DISCUSSION base must be mixed with a tube of accelerator The principal advantages of these mold ma until the entire mixture is of a uniform color. terials are: 1) They set very rapidly. It is pos Then it can be applied to the fossil. It sets sible to pour a mold and walk away with the slightly faster if covered with a damp cloth. finished mold within a few minutes. 2) They A mold release should be used with both set fairly rapidly even at low temperatures. alginate and polysulfide rubber mold mate Alginate material was successfully used in the rials. A concentrated solution of liquid deter field for making molds of trace fossils when gent and water, or silicone mold release are there was snow on the ground, and latex rub both effective. ber would not set properly. 3) They are avail Dental impression materials have a finite able, at least in small quantities, in relatively shelf life, and should not be kept too long be remote areas. Almost all dentists have some fore they are used. type of impression material and most dentists Various brands of these materials are avail are likely to be willing to sell some, although able. The alginate impression material that we they may not be able to part with a large used was Caulk Jeltrate, Type II-normal set, amount on short notice. from the L.D. Caulk Company, Division of The polysulfide rubber molds have the ad Dentsply International Inc., Milford, Dela ditional advantage of being more durable than ware 19963. The polysulfide rubber was Coe alginate. Alginate molds have more limitations flex rubber base impression material, from Coe than polysulfide rubber, but in situations in Laboratories, Chicago, Ill. 60658. Other types which those limitations are not critical, the al of dental impression material are available, but ginate has the advantages of being faster set are significantly more expensive. Contact a ting, much less expensive, easier to work with dentist or a dental supply store for more in (aside from the need to keep it in plastic bags formation. Most large cities have at least one and protect it from damage), and it may be dental supply store. more practical for molding large areas. We Another dental material, castone, is useful have successfully made quality molds of large for making plaster casts. Castone (Ransom and areas of fossil footprints by covering them with Randolph Co., Toledo, Ohio) is just like plas several batches of alginate impression mate ter of paris, except that castone is much harder rial. In warm weather the alginate sets too and more durable than plaster of paris. Cast rapidly for the batches to bond to each other. one in 100 pound drums from the Ransom and It then becomes necessary to reinforce the mold PALEONTOLOGICAL NOTES 1307 with burlap; unfolding the burlap over each of dental impression material for molding macro successive batch and pushing it into the wet fossils. J. Paleontol. 49:767. alginate. Rigby, J. K. and D. L. Clark. 1965. Casting and molding, p. 389-413. In, B. Kummel and D. REFERENCES Raup (eds.), Handbook of paleontological tech Colbert, E. H. 1980. A fossil-hunter's notebook. niques. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco. E. P. Dutton, New York, 288 p. MANUSCRIPT RECEIVED JUNE 8, 1981 Quilty, P. G. and A. J. Williams. 1975. The use REVISED MANUSCRIPT RECEIVED OCTOBER 23, 1981 .