Spray Opaque Questions

[user name]

Ive heard of doing it, but thats it. Can someone explain it alittle. I assume youre using a small airbrush, but are you spraying a thinned paste or a powder slurry? What do you use, how are you doing it, and does it have any difference in bond strength?

 

[TheLabGuy]

Best opaqued restorations I've seen has come from this method. Yes, it's an airbrush with the powder/liquid. The problem is that it's very costly to do this, you'd waste over 10 copings worth of opaque to just spray 1, that's why it isn't very popular and practical unless someone has changed the technique some?

 

[amadent]

that was 1st job in this feild, about 14 years ago we used spray opaque with synspar porcelain. the opaques were beatiful. like Rob stated they are sprayed with air brush into a funnel with a cap on the back, this way when you were done spraying you could scrap the sprayed opaque back into the bottle, . you also had to be careful not to get overspray inside after every spray i would always go inside the restoration with a dry #4 build-up brush to insure no opaque inside the crown or bridge

while the results are beatiful, the process took much longer than the paste opaques we use now

Greg Amendola MDT

 

[Al.]

I did it for years till paste opaque came out.
I makes the best opaqued copings there are.
No black lines and the surface comes out like grainy sandpaper compared to the smooth and shinny surface of paste. that makes better for refracting light and helps with the body pulling away a bit.
It takes a system set up and a bathroom sized room dedicated to it.
You need a sink near by and some ventilation, and you have to wear a mask or you will be breathing in glass.
Like rob said it takes qite a bit of material but IMO it is worth it in the time saved and quality esp for opaquing large bridges. It takes almost a half to 1/3 of a bottle of powder to fill up the jar to get started.
You use a special liquid with alcohol in to to help it dry quick and a hair dryer to dry it inbetween coats.
You need a couple dozen pairs of hemostats and a couple magnetic strips and trays to seperate copings by shade. I used the round plastic paint pallets and marked each compartment with a different shade.
I used to spray opaque in the bathroom.

If I did alot of pfms I would go back toit because once you get everything mixed it is super fast and nothing compares to the quality. A perfectly even coat and you can put it on much thinner.
You can put a perfect and even coat on a 6 unit bridge in less than 5 minutes probably 3 or four. You need to put the dies in when you spray the underneith side.
Do a bond coat first using any shade then use the correct shade and no third coat on lighter shades.

Some spray against a plexiglass sheet and scrape the overspray off and reuse that for the bond coat material.

 

[Al.]

while the results are beatiful, the process took much longer than the paste opaques we use now

Greg Amendola MDT

Yeah because of the prep work or mixing time, organizing and clean up.
You can have the first coat on a few units in the time it takes prepare and mix everything.

 

[amadent]

Yeah because of the prep work or mixing time, organizing and clean up.
You can have the first coat on a few units in the time it takes prepare and mix everything.

EXACTLY

 

[charles007]

I sprayed against glass to save, with suction behind the glass... then tried paste opaque when they came out. Spraying gives the best coverage in just seconds after everything is set up....
If you spray, its best to spray aprox 10 units or more since it takes time for setup and clean up of the sprayer.........If your only doing 5 or 6 units at a time, its a waste of time/maybe ?

My crowns measured at aprox .3 with opaque or less than .4 , opaque was almost unmeasurable !! seriously !

Another opition, spray on the bonding layer and first layer with white opaque, use paste on the shaded layer.... "if your using paste already"

Learning curve spraying is short....also need a hair-dryer......I used one with a fold up handle that was glued to a glass slab using a foot control to power up and down... cool !!! hehe

Charles