What Is the Plaster and Acrylic Laboratory? / What Is Its Purpose?
The Üsküdar University Plaster and Acrylic Laboratory is a fully equipped training center where students in the Dental Prosthetics Technology program conduct their preclinical and practical training, focusing on the mechanics of extraoral prosthetic construction.
- Primary Purpose: To accurately convert oral impressions taken by dentists from patients into plaster models in a laboratory setting and to provide hands-on instruction on the production stages of acrylic-based prostheses (removable partial and complete dentures).
- Academic Contribution: In addition to helping students develop manual dexterity, the laboratory equips them with the ability to manipulate the chemical and physical properties of dental materials (types of plaster, acrylic resins) and to manage polymerization (curing) processes under the correct heat and pressure conditions.
Equipment and Technical Facilities in the Laboratory
The laboratory infrastructure includes both traditional and modern production and shaping units required in a dental prosthetics laboratory. Within the framework of Key Features, the laboratory equipment includes the following:
- Plaster Vibrators (Shakers): Devices that ensure no air bubbles remain in the prepared plaster mixture as it is poured into the model impression tray, resulting in a smooth, high-strength model.
- Acrylic Heating (Polymerization) Tanks: Water baths with adjustable time and temperature settings that facilitate the molecular hardening (polymerization) of acrylic denture material according to a specific temperature and time profile.
- Hydraulic and Mechanical Presses: Devices that apply high pressure to ensure the acrylic resin material is evenly distributed into the sockets (metal molds) and to remove excess material.
- Micromotors and Suspended Motor Systems: High-speed rotary instruments used for trimming excess material from curing acrylic dentures, shaping them to an anatomical form, and performing leveling and polishing (buffing) operations.
- Molds and Mold Clamps: Metal boxes resistant to high pressure and heat, used in prosthesis fabrication for plaster modeling and acrylic casting.
- Trimmer (Plaster Model Trimming Device): Devices that grind away excess material from the edges and bases of plaster models using water to bring them into standard geometric shapes.
Research Areas and Application Areas
The hands-on courses conducted in the laboratory cover all stages of removable prosthesis fabrication used in the oral and dental health sector:
- Anatomical and Functional Model Preparation: Preparation of accurate working models by casting intraoral impressions with laboratory-grade hard plaster.
- Full (Total) and Partial (Partial) Denture Modeling: Creating wax models of edentulous or partially edentulous jaws, arranging artificial teeth, and preparing them for the acrylic casting stage.
- Molding and Acrylic Casting Techniques: Embedding dentures with completed wax modeling into a plaster mold, removing the wax (wax removal), and pressing acrylic paste into the resulting cavity.
- Prosthetic Finishing Procedures (Trimming and Polishing): Removing the fully polymerized acrylic prostheses from the mold, trimming them using micromotors, and smoothing them using emery stone and polishing paste.
Contributions to Students and the Industry
The Plaster and Acrylic Laboratory prepares students for the industry by maximizing their manual dexterity and three-dimensional perception skills.
- Clinical-Laboratory Coordination: Students learn to produce dental prostheses that fully meet clinical expectations by accurately analyzing the work order and measurements sent by the dentist.
- Industry Employment Prospects: Graduates who have mastered all production processes and equipment use in this laboratory are quickly employed as qualified technical staff in private dental prosthetics laboratories, oral and dental health centers (ADSM), prosthetics departments at university hospitals, and companies that manufacture and market dental materials.
