Evaluation of Some Properties of Dental Stone After Incorporation of Bergamot Essential Oil
Author(s): Ghassan Abdul-Hamid Naji* and Layth Taher Omer
Abstract
Introduction: Due to its proven antimicrobial efficiency, bergamot essential oil was incorporated into dental stone mixture to enhance the material by yielding a disinfected cast, however such property enhancement should not be accompanied by jeopardizing others in order to make sure of the material’s usability.
Aims: The study was aimed to evaluate some properties of type III dental stone that include diametral tensile strength, initial setting time and linear setting expansion after the incorporation of bergamot essential oil.
Materials and Methods: A total of 90 specimens, 30 for each test with dimensions of 20 ± 0.2 mm in diameter and 40 ± 0.4 mm in thickness for diametral tensile strength test, 70 mm in diameter at top, 60 mm in diameter at bottom and 40 mm high for initial setting time test and 100 ± 0.1 mm length shaped as isosceles triangle with a 90° angle and internal side lengths of 30 ± 1 mm for linear setting expansion test were prepared by incorporation of various percentages of 8% and 10% of bergamot essential oil (by volume) and 0% as a control group. Dental stone specimens were tested 1 hour from the start of the mix for the diametral tensile strength, 2 min before the mix lost its sheen for the initial setting time till the needle fail to penetrate the mix up to 2 mm and 60 ± 1 sec prior to initial setting time for the linear setting expansion till 2 hours after.
Results and Discussion: The incorporation has a significant increase increased both the diametral tensile strength and the linear setting expansion (P<0.00), while reduced the initial setting time (P<0.00). Such results may be due to reduction in liquid/powder ratio that has not been compensated by the incorporation because of the essential oil’s volatile nature.
Conclusion: The incorporation of bergamot essential oil revealed an improvement in the diametral tensile strength and linear setting expansion, while reducing the initial setting time of dental stone.