Dental Waxes

Dental waxes
WAXES:
• Are thermoplastic materials which are normally
solids at room temperature but melt, without
decomposition, to form mobile liquids.
• Dental waxes are used in a wide variety of clinical and
laboratory dental procedures.
Dental waxes
Waxes have a variety of uses in clinics and laboratories
In clinics In laboratories
Bite registration Boxing techniques when you

want to make a model for your impression you
pour the impression with gypsum & when you
want to make the base at the same time, you use
the boxing wax to rap it all around the tray &
pour the gypsum inside so you get the
anatomical & the base portion of the model.
Alterations and adaptation Baseplate for complete and
of impression trays to adjust the partial dentures you have your
tray if it is too short by adding wax to make it model, you make a base & then place the wax
longer on the top so as to set the teeth for the denture.
Later the wax is replaced by acrylic resin to
make the denture.
Direct waxing for cast Hold jaw registration

restorations –metallic or ceramics- as you components before
make a pattern made of wax then you melt the wax &
replace it with ceramics or metals but this time you articulation
make it in the clinic in pt’s mouth or the post-crown
restoration (after you filled a tooth with root canal
filling, if there is not much of the crown left, part of
the root will be removed & replaced with core to
support the crown, this core is made of metal that is
made of wax firstly in pt’s mouth & replaced by
metal), so you put the wax in the canal space until it
takes the shape then you take it out & send it the lab to
be replaced
____________ Indirect pattern for casting

COMPOSITION
• 2 sources:
1-Natural waxes produced from:
– Plants from trees they extract carnauba wax
– Minerals: paraffin wax
– Animals: beeswax
2-Synthetic waxes
• Additional components: gums, oils, resins, fats.
Just to change the properties a little pit.
• Their basic constituents are essentially
similar, but their exact proportion is different.
PROPERTIES
1. Melting range: since it is made of different materials a
range of temperatures not a certain melting temperature
at which each component of the wax will start to
soften and then flow for example70-90 degree. The
operator can control the viscosity of wax by
controlling temperature.
2. Flow: is the movement of the wax as molecules slip
over each other. Melting range and flow of the wax
are important in wax manipulation by operator it is
important to select the wax with the proper melting range for
clinical use. E.g. bite registration wax you need a wax that
are not melted below mouth temperature, otherwise once you
place it in the oral cavity, it starts to melt & become too soft & it
will not record occlusal relationship properly.
You have 3 blocks of wax& you place a small amount of weight on top of
each one.
No flow as wax is not soft.

Flow depend on
the melting
range of the wax
& it is important
for manipulation.
With time flow will
increase as the wax start
to melt.
6
.. PROPERTIES
3. Excess residue: for the sake of accuracy in
the object produced, if excess residue remains
after melted wax is removed, inaccuracies may
occur. (lost wax technique procedure When we
carve the restoration in wax first then we put investment
material around it in oven, melt it & then metal goes in. )
We use many equipment when we are dealing with wax,
sometimes we use oven, carvers or wax knife all of these
should be very clean once we finish our restoration so when
we make another restoration there will be no excess wax or
residue as it leads to inaccuracy in the new restoration.
so you finish your restoration, you want to make another one,
you have to clean the wax inside again completely otherwise
any excess will lead to inaccuracy in the new restoration.
.. PROPERTIES
4. Dimensional change: waxes expand when
heated, contract when cooled. Thermal
expansion of waxes is highest among dental
materials important for accuracy of the restoration. This property
is important especially for pattern waxes, when we
are making a crown or a bridge we should make it firstly in wax but if you allow it to
stay for more than 30 min the wax will start to deform & change in shape as there is
stress inside the wax & by time it will be released. (e.g. inlay wax).
How:
– If wax is heated well beyond melting range or
unevenly, unacceptable expansion occurs. So when you
are over heating or cooling the wax, when you use it again, it will contract or
expand unevenly throughout leading to inaccuracy.
– If wax is allowed to stand for a long time, the
release of residual stresses will lead to dimensional
changes and inaccuracies. This is why pattern wax
should be invested within 30 minutes of carving.
CLASSIFICATION OF WAXES
Pattern wax Processing wax Impression wax
Using wax then replace
it.
Inlay wax Boxing wax Corrective impression

wax
Casting wax Utility wax Bite registration wax
Baseplate Sticky wax _____________

wax
PATTERN WAXES
• Inlay waxes: are used to
produce patterns for
metal casting using the
lost wax technique.
The dark restoration is

wax, they drill a cavity &
fit the wax as this wax
later on will be replaced
by a restoration –not metal
but composite or
ceramics.
• Blue or green sticks, heat over open flame; Ingredients -
petroleum hydrocarbons, natural resin and wax
Fixed bridge
carved in wax
Wax is
replaced by
metals
,Continue
– Type I: placed directly in the prepared tooth in the
direct waxing technique. This wax has a low
melting range.
– Type II: melted on a die outside the mouth in the

indirect –you place it in gypsum model then it is replaced
by metal or porcelain- technique (more commonly
used). These waxes are supplied as pellets and
sticks. They are blue and green in color. Hard,
medium, soft depending on melting range.
,Continue
• Casting wax: used to construct the metal framework
for partial and complete dentures. Supplied in sheets
or preformed shapes.
They come in different shapes (bars or meshwork), they are attached to the
cast or the model & then invested (wax is melted away & metal goes in)
Partial denture
have a metal
components to
give support, so
usually the shape
of the metal
framework is
made in wax first
then melted away
to be replaced
with metals.
,Continue
• Baseplate wax: sheets of
wax pink in color. These
sheets are layered to
produce the form on which
denture teeth are set
So wax is attached to the gypsum
model while you are placing or
setting the teeth, then you have
to replace the wax with acrylic
resin.
• Ingredients: Petroleum
hydrocarbons and natural
wax
Occlusal Rims in Baseplate wax
PROCESSING WAX
• Boxing wax: used to form the base portion of a
gypsum model. Easily manipulated at room
temperature.
Placed all around the tray. When we want to make it a little
bit soft to attach it to the tray, you just need to place it in
your hands then it will be a little pit softened & you can
attach it to the tray.
Used properly, it should be completely dry, otherwise it will
not stick to the tray.
• Ingredients: Petroleum hydrocarbon & natural
resin
--PROCESSING WAX
19
,Continue
• Utility wax: also called periphery wax, comes
in ropes, and easily manipulated at room
temperature. Used to adjust impression trays
-to make it longer-, used to cover sharp brackets
-edges- and wires in orthodontic appliances,
layered in sheets for bite registration.

• red or white ropes
• Ingredients: petroleum hydrocarbon and
paraffin
Utility wax
,Continue
• Sticky wax: comes in yellow - orange sticks that
are hard and brittle at room temperature. When
heated, become soft and sticky. Used to adhere
-attach- components of metal, gypsum, resin
during fabrication and repair.
Let’s say that you have a broken denture & you want to repair it,
you put the 2 pieces together & attach them with the sticky wax.
• Ingredients: natural wax & resin
It is a brittle
type of wax
(hard &
rigid at
room
temperature
& when you
melt it , it
become soft
& liquid).
Sticky wax
IMPRESSION WAXES
• Corrective impression wax: used with other
impression materials for edentulous
impressions, to correct undercut areas. Flows
at mouth temperature.
Not used commonly nowadays but we use it if there are holes or
bubbles in our gypsum model to cover the holes & correct the
shape of the cast.
• Bite registration: to produce wax bite
registration for articulation of models.
Susceptible to distortion, needs careful
handling.
Bite Registration Wax
Ingredients: Aluwax, paraffin and beeswax, bite registration

No heat or warm water
Wax sheets used for impression and bite
registration
We can cut it in any shape we want & place
it in pt’s mouth.
U shaped like dental
arch so easier to use.
Wax sheets, horseshoe shaped, rods

MANIPULATION
• Softened evenly in:
– Warm hands boxing wax
– Warm water
– Dry heat
– Flame
• Added in layers into an object not one bulk
• Should be invested within 30 minutes of carving so the stress
will not be allowed to be released & the crown or bridge will not
change its shape so more accurate
• Utility and boxing wax should remain dry to allow to stick
when manipulated.
• Should be stored at or slightly below room temperature so
you have to know the melting range to store it in a proper
temperature.
Lost wax technique
1. An impression of the preparation is taken and
poured into high strength stone to form a die.
2. Wax pattern is carved
3. Wax or plastic sprue is attached to pattern
4. Pattern and sprue are encased in investment ring,
into which investment gypsum is poured
5. Once investment sets, wax pattern and sprue are
heated in a burnout oven, causing wax and sprue to
vaporize (lost wax), leaving an impression of wax
pattern in the empty case
,Lost wax technique continue
6. Molten metal is poured through the empty

channel formed by sprue, into the empty
wax pattern space.
7. Metal cools, sprue removed, casting cleaned
and polished and now ready for cementation
Lost wax technique
Made of
wax Wax go
out
Tube or canal
for metal to go Metal
in & reach the goes in
pattern
REFERENCE
Dental materials, clinical applications for dental
assistants and dental hygienists

Dental Waxes

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Dental waxes

Bite registration Boxing techniques when you

Direct waxing for cast Hold jaw registration

____________ Indirect pattern for casting

No flow as wax is not soft.

Inlay wax Boxing wax Corrective impression

Baseplate Sticky wax _____________

The dark restoration is

– Type II: melted on a die outside the mouth in the

• Casting wax: used to construct the metal framework

for partial and complete dentures. Supplied in sheets

layered in sheets for bite registration.

Ingredients: Aluwax, paraffin and beeswax, bite registration

Wax sheets, horseshoe shaped, rods

6. Molten metal is poured through the empty

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