Aquasil Ultra Xtra

According to the manufacturer, a perfect match of working and setting characteristics produces a system that couples a syringable light-body wash with extra work time, with a medium-body tray material. Removal time is faster than with regular-set polyether.

Working and Setting Time

Aquasil Ultra Xtra provides a maximum syringing time of 1 minute and 45 seconds while reducing removal time to 5 ½ minutes. When the 10 dentists who participated in the evaluation were asked about working time, 5 rated it as excellent and 5 rated it as very good. One evaluator reported “plenty of working time.”

Setting time, described as “just right” by 1 evaluator and “too long” by another, was rated as excellent by 4 evaluators, as very good by 4, and as poor by 2. One dentist said, “Five minutes is way too slow.” The evaluator who called setting time “a little long,” also said, “It’s worth it in the end.”

Six evaluators rated the ease of removing the impression as excellent, 3 rated it as very good to good, and 1 rated it as fair. One evaluator described it as “the same as other materials.” One dentist called it “a little stiff to remove…but with a full-arch impression” and another described removal as “a little tough due to suction, but worth it.”

Flow and Mix Characteristics

Flow characteristics of Aquasil Ultra Xtra were rated as excellent by 6 evaluators and as very good to good by 4. One evaluator “really liked the lightbody flow” and another said it was “very easy to work with and we used less material.”

Mix characteristics were rated as excellent by 6 evaluators, as very good to good by 3, and as fair by 1. One dentist called it “difficult to mix with the gun” and another said it “mixed well, but I’d prefer [another] machine for tray material.” One evaluator said, “It mixes wonderfully…so the impression turns out beautiful.”

Ease of Use and Delivery

Ease of use of Aquasil Ultra Xtra was rated as excellent by 6 evaluators and as very good by 4. The evaluator who “found it very easy to use” also “liked the light-body color but didn’t like the tray material color.” The color of the wash was described by 1 evaluator as “too dark to see the margin clearly” and another said, “The margins are shown great” with the coloring system.

Six evaluators rated the convenience of the 50-mL cartridge delivery method as excellent and 4 rated it as very good to good.

Detail and Precision of Impressions

According to the manufacturer, the Ultra Xtra’s formulation accuracy and strength is equal to that of Aquasil Ultra Smart Wetting impression material. Impression detail and precision were rated as excellent by 5 evaluators, as very good or good by 4, and as fair by 1. Comments ranged from “hard to read margins” to “very nice details and no problem with the tray material/lightbody interface.” The evaluator who reported “a few tears” described marginal integrity as “so-so.” The evaluator who said “very good detailing… makes it easy to see any flaws” also said margins “stay in tact even against rough surfaces around crowns or veneers.”

Overall Satisfaction

Overall satisfaction with Aquasil Ultra Xtra was rated as excellent by 3 evaluators, as very good to good by 5, and as fair by 2. One evaluator said, “It gives you all the [working] time you need plus more.”