President putty is one of the oldest but one of their most reliable addition silicone putty from Coltene.
- First ever polyvinylsiloxane addition silicone to be introduced for dentistry.
- Launched in the year, 1975.
- Available in following consistencies:
- Putty – Yellow
- Soft putty – Brown
- Super soft putty – Orange
- Fast soft putty – Brown
- Available in 2x 300ml jars.
- The other addition silicone putty available from Coltene is Affinis.
Pros:
- High tensile strength and elasticity.
- Easily kneadable and highly viscous tray material.
| Hardness | Tear Strength | Elasticity | |
| Putty | 75 Shore A | 3.5 MPa | 99.2% |
| Soft Putty | 65 Shore A | 2.8 MPa | 99.4% |
| Super Soft Putty | 55 Shore A | 2.5 MPa | 99.5% |
Cons:
- As the mixing is manually done, any variations like quantity of base and catalyst, temperature of the room or material, humidity of the room or even the pressure applied during mixing can change the setting time.
- Has to be used along with light body to record the fine details.
- Once set, it is highly rigid and hence should be carefully used if the teeth are mobile, as it may lead to removal of teeth while removing the set impression from the mouth.
Instructions for use:
- Used as a tray material for single step or two step impression technique.
- Use the colour matched scoops to take leveled out spoonful of both base and catalyst material.
- Start mixing with the finger tips only until the colour of the mix is uniform.
- Mixing time for all consistencies of putties are 45 seconds.
- A tray adhesive can be applied to the selected tray.
- The mixed putty is placed in the tray and the tray is seated in the mouth and held in place without pressure. Seating time is 2-3 seconds.
| SETTING TIME | |
| Putty/Soft Putty/Super Soft Putty | > 4min 10 seconds |
| Fast Soft Putty | > 3min 10 seconds |
- The above setting times are at room temperature of 23° C and at 50% relative humidity.
- Saliva, eugenol, hemostatic agents and latex interferes with the setting process of Siloxane. Wash them off rigorously before making the impression or avoid using such materials altogether.
- Disinfect the impression with appropriate disinfectants viz. 2% glutaraldehyde etc. before pouring the models. Always pour the models after 30 minutes of making the impression. The impression can be used to pour model even up till 7 days.
- Putty can be stored for 2 years in tight containers from the date of manufacture at 15-23°C. Avoid direct sunlight.
Review of President Putty
I have used Aquasil Soft Putty from Dentsply for a long period of time. When I used Affinis super soft putty from Coltene (read my review here), I was left underwhelmed by it’s performance.
I was apprehensive when my Coltene representative offered me President Super Soft Putty. My past experience with Coltene putty was not good and President was an older generation of putty on top of that.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the handling quality of President putty was far superior than Affinis putty. Even the setting time was less affected by storage temperature and the learning curve to both mix and make an impression was less. This enabled less wastage (as repeat impressions due to ‘early’ setting was avoided) and less chairside time.
It did it’s job of being a tray material perfectly and supported the light body without compressing it (in a single tray technique), thereby reproducing the fine details in the light body as desired.
I would say, it is a fine old workhorse which has proven the test of time and can be a replacement of Aquasil putty, specially if you are looking for something cheaper without compromising on the quality.
If you have any questions or feedback regarding the product, kindly mention in the comments.
