Fabrication of one-piece hollow obturators

Our plain-English summary of Fabrication of one-piece hollow obturators, by A. Jhanji, S.T. Stevens (The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, 1991).

The study

• Authors: A. Jhanji, S.T. Stevens
• Journal: The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry
• Published: 1991;66(1):136-8
• Cited by: 16 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

This technique is a controlled process in which the thickness of the obturator can be easily modified by adding to or shaving off the dimensionally stable silicone putty. All phases of the obturator fabrication are heat-cured and not autopolymerized, thus negating the disadvantages of other techniques. The technique provides more predictable results in obturator fabrication as it uses silicone putty as the obturating material as opposed to sugar, asbestos, or other silicone rubber foams that can be messy, dangerous, and unstable. This technique can also be used for patients with atrophic maxillae where the hollow denture can significantly reduce the weight of the restoration.

In plain English

This 1991 article, by two staff members of Northwestern University Dental School, described a dental laboratory technique for making a one-piece hollow obturator. An obturator is a prosthesis that fills a defect; this one was heat-cured acrylic resin. The article was not a study of people or of asbestos exposure. Apart from procedural details such as thicknesses, temperatures and curing times, it reported no measured results or health data. The authors used silicone putty as a temporary filler to form the hollow while the resin cured, then removed it and joined the halves. Asbestos appeared only as one of several fillers others had used for this purpose. The article noted that Worley and Kniejski had used asbestos. The authors wrote that their method gave more predictable results than sugar, asbestos or silicone rubber foams, which they said can be messy, dangerous and unstable. They did not say which material had which drawback, name an asbestos fiber type, or describe health effects. They added that the technique could serve patients with atrophic maxillae, where a hollow denture can reduce weight.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Description of a dental laboratory technique (no study data collected)
• Who was studied: No patients or groups of people were studied. The article describes a laboratory procedure.
• Exposure: Asbestos was not studied. It is mentioned only as a material that other authors (Worley and Kniejski) had used to fill the hollow space when making obturators. No fiber type is named.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors stated that their technique gives more predictable results because it uses silicone putty instead of sugar, asbestos or silicone rubber foams, which they described as able to be messy, dangerous and unstable. They also stated it can be used for patients with atrophic maxillae to reduce the weight of the restoration.

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