Composition
The chemical composition of ZOE is typically:
- Zinc oxide, ~69.0%
- White rosin, ~29.3%
- Zinc acetate, ~1.0% (improves strength)
- Zinc stearate, ~0.7% (acts as accelerator)
- Liquid (Eugenol, ~85%, Olive oil ~15%)
ZOE impression pastes are dispensed as two separate pastes. One tube contains zinc oxide and vegetable or mineral oil; the other contains eugenol and rosin. The vegetable or mineral oil acts as a plasticizer and aids in offsetting the action of the eugenol as an irritant.
Oil of cloves, which contains 70% to 85% eugenol, is sometimes used in preference to eugenol because it produces less burning sensation for patients when it contacts the soft tissues. The addition of rosin to the paste in the second tube facilitates the speed of the reaction and yields a smoother, more homogenous product.
Canada balsam and Peru balsam are often used to increase flow and improve mixing properties. If the mixed paste is too thin or lacks body before it sets, a filler (such as a wax) or an inert powder (such as kaolin, talc, or diatomaceous earth) may be added to one or both of the original pastes.
Read more about this topic: Zinc Oxide Eugenol
Famous quotes containing the word composition:
“Boswell, when he speaks of his Life of Johnson, calls it my magnum opus, but it may more properly be called his opera, for it is truly a composition founded on a true story, in which there is a hero with a number of subordinate characters, and an alternate succession of recitative and airs of various tone and effect, all however in delightful animation.”
—James Boswell (1740–1795)
“Every thing in his composition was little; and he had all the weaknesses of a little mind, without any of the virtues, or even the vices, of a great one.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“The composition of a tragedy requires testicles.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)