DVA
“STRIPPER”
Smoother, Cleaner Castings
with Controlled Fit
in Seconds!
DVA has developed a very UNIQUE product, one we call “Stripper,” that provides two very beneficial procedures for a dental laboratory:
“Stripper provides SMOOTHER, BETTER FITTING CASTINGS with CONTROLLED FITS!”
AND, it does so for under $25!
That’s it; that’s the message we want to communicate to our customers! It’s that simple! We don’t need to talk about color, price (they already know the approximate price), bottles, chemical composition, etc.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
SMOOTHER CASTINGS:
In the ’lost wax’ casting technique, as commonly used in dentistry, one of the final procedures after applying wax to a die preparation is to carve and shape the wax pattern into its desired form of contours, cusps and occlusal patterns. Following this procedure, the pattern is invested, burned-out and cast into its final, metal state. Then, the metal must be ground upon with either stones, diamonds, rubber polishing wheels or points, and then finally polished with a product like “Brilliance” to attain the smoothest, highest polished surface possible.
Thus, much of the post-casting work that is done, is directed at ‘fixing the roughnest’ left in the wax pattern. Given the difference in hardness between wax and metal alloys, especially non-precious metals, it would make sense to cast a wax pattern that is as SMOOTH as possible. Doing so, reduces the effort one has to put into fitting and smoothing the pattern after it is cast into metal.
STRIPPER saves finishing, fitting & polishing time, while providing an improved final contour to the castings.
BETTER FITS:
One of the problems inherent with any casting is the wax remnents which might be left ‘on’ or ‘inside’ a pattern. Typically, they must be brushed or blown away with compressed air, or by merely attempting to ‘blow them away’ using one’s one breath.
It is much easier to merely wipe-away any small ‘carving remnants’ with Stripper and a brush. Doing so, allows the casting (especially the inside) to be as smooth and clean as possible. Remember, any unwanted wax or other debris left inside a wax pattern would cause a ‘bubble’ or ‘imperfection’ in the inside of a cast pattern which would result in a positive or ‘bump’ in the casting wall. Such an imperfection in the casting would interfere with its being easily seated thoroughly and accurately into position. Thus, any necessity to grind away unwanted metal to allow easy seating is eliminated. The use of Stripper simplifies the casting process considerably. This one benefit should be very instrumental in helping the technician make a buying decision.
CONTROLLED FIT:
Due to the limitations of being able to control the expansion of wax and investment when exposed to high temperatures during the pattern burn-out procedure, oftentimes results in ‘tight castings,’ etc. This is especially true if one were to be casting non-precious alloys!
Thus, the ability to ‘brush’ a material like Stripper onto the internal walls of a wax pattern allows the operatory to ‘expand’ the fit of the crown prior to the conversion of the wax pattern into metal with the lost-wax/burn-out and casting procedure.
This same phenomenon would allow the technician operator to remove any undesirable undercuts from the wax pattern also; thus allowing the final cast pattern to ‘slide directly into position’ for an easy and accurate fit.
NOTE: One should always keep in mind that the only place a casting has to really fit DIRCTLY against the die is at the MARGINS (or contacting edges) of the preparation (or tooth).
COMPETITIVE PROCEDURES OR PRODUCTS
A wax pattern has traditionally been made smooth by three major procedures or products:
1. Carving and modeling the wax to as smooth a surface as possible.
2. Using a flame torch to softly melt or gently smooth the wax surface.
3. Buffing the completed wax pattern with a soft, cloth-like material, i.e., a piece of nylon or a DVA ‘Digi-Wigit’ like product.
4. Painting the surface with a lacquer or varnish-like product.
Each of these procedures has its drawbacks or limitations with regard to improving the surface of the wax pattern.
Carving and modeling instruments, regardless of the effort placed upon contouring into a desired pattern, always leave some ‘carving marks’ or fine scratches. It is these very working marks that need to be eliminated.
Using a torch to flame the pattern, naturally must cause the wax to melt to some degree; thus causing it to flow slightly. In so doing, some of the ‘sharpness” of the contours is lost.
Buffing the pattern with a piece of soft cloth, while effective, is difficult to accomplish without changing the modeled contour to some degree. One’s fingers, around which the cloth is wrapped during this procedure is always larger than the natural contours of a tooth surface; thus, the ultimate shape of the casting might tend to be distorted. Naturally, a cloth could not be used to affect a change ‘inside’ a wax pattern.
Lacquers and varnishes smooth the pattern by filling-in the ‘valleys’ of the scratched, carved surface. In so doing, they ADD dimension to the pattern. They make the pattern slightly thicker; while DVA’s STRIPPER reduces the wax surface! And, therein lies the secret of STRIPPER’S uniqueness.
Because STRIPPER smoothes the wax by ‘REDUCING’ or ‘STRIPPING’ the wax away, as discussed above, it can also be used to expand the inside dimensions of a crown. In effect – to make the crown’s inside diameter larger to a CONTROLLED DEGREE. The more they apply, the easier the crown will fit the die.
This is a very important benefit, especially for someone that uses non-precious alloys, as their expansion can be somewhat limited. This product can be very, very helpful in that regard.
The use of STRIPPER inside the wax pattern is very important as it provides a method to make the inside walls of the casting as smooth and clean as possible. Considering that any debris (wax or otherwise) left inside a coping or crown, upon being invested creates a ‘hole’ or ‘negative,’ hollow’ contour which will be filled with metal upon casting the form. Such ‘positive’ projections, naturally will impede the proper and complete fitting of the casting upon the die –thus leaving margins open. Any such impediments to the proper seating of the die must then be removed with burs and hand-piece. Naturally, it makes more sense to remove such problem-causing particles while still in a soft, workable wax form than to have to grind any anomaly away after the pattern has been cast into a rather hard metal.
Naturally, one can readily understand how a ‘polishing cloth’ could not be utilized inside a coping or crown pattern, not would adding dimension with the use of a lacquer or varnish-like material be advantageous. While several companies sell varnish/lacquer-type materials, that ADD dimension to the walls of the pattern, which would cause the casting to be ‘too tight,’ we know of no other product that can be used to remove wax from the inside wall of a wax pattern . Thus, a big advantage to DVA’s STRIPPER!
So, to review, STRIPPER provides both SMOOTHER, BETTER FITTING CASTINGS as well as the ability to CONTROL the FIT of the CASTINGS! The use of STRIPPER significantly reduces finishing and fitting time. Big, big benefits!
In a Word, “The ability of STRIPPER to reduce the dimension of wax, rather than add dimension, allows it to provide a smoother, cleaner, easier seating casting with controlled fit!”
Some quick points of interest for our customers:
- Stripper was developed by a dental technician who had tried every other product designed to smooth wax patterns available in the industry.
- Stripper is not flammable.
- It is very easily applied with a brush of appropriate size and firmness. A brush assortment is readily available directly from DVA.
