Dynamic viscoelastic properties of antimicrobial tissue conditioners containing silver-zeolite

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of including the antimicrobial silver-zeolite (SZ) on the dynamic viscoelastic properties of various tissue conditioners. Methods: The dynamic viscoelastic properties of five commercially available tissue conditioners: Visco-gel (VG), GC Soft-Liner (SL), FITT (FT), SR-Ivoseal (IV) and Shofu Tissue Conditioner (TC) containing SZ were evaluated after 1 and 28 days of water- and artificial saliva immersions with the use of complex modulus and loss tangent parameters. Values for these two parameters for each tissue conditioner were statistically analyzed by one- and two-way ANOVA and Bonferroni's test. Results: Complex modulus and loss tangent values of TC were not significantly different among specimens containing 0, 2, 5 and 10 wt.%-SZ, respectively. In FT and TC containing 2 wt.%-SZ, these values were not significantly different between 1 and 28 days in both water- and saliva immersions. Conclusion: The results suggest that incorporating SZ does not affect TC's inherent dynamic viscoelastic properties, while the other tissue conditioners investigated may be found to have changed viscoelastic properties as a consequence of the inclusion of SZ. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.