Casting procedure

By

Dr Shahbaz Khan
BDS, M Phil
 Terminologies related to casting procedure
Casting:
Casting is a procedure by which a wax pattern of a restoration is
converted to a replica in a dental alloy

Cast ability:
The ability of an alloy to completely fill a mould.

Lost wax technique:

In this technique wax pattern of a restoration is invested in a
ceramic material, then the pattern is burned out (lost) to create a
space into which molten metal is placed or cast.
Die:
A replica of a tooth or prepared tooth onto which a wax pattern is
formed. The die is usually made of a gypsum material.

Sprue:
Part of a casting that acts as a channel for the molten metal to flow
into the mould cavity.

Refractory:
Any material that has an extremely high resistance to temperature.

Investment:
A moulding material that surrounds the pattern and subsequently
hardens and forms the mould after the wax pattern is eliminated.
 Steps Of Casting Procedure

1 - Taking impression and making of model or die.

2 - Formation of wax pattern

3 - Spruing of wax pattern

4 - Placement of sprued wax pattern

in casting ring
5 - Investment of the wax pattern

6 – Burnout of wax pattern

7 - Casting
8 - Pickling, finishing and polishing
Taking impression and making of model or die.
 Formation of wax pattern

Wax pattern defines the shape and size of the resulting appliance
and is eventually replaced by an alloy (in case of casting) by using
the lost-wax technique.

For casting procedure, the wax pattern can be made by one of the
following two methods;

Direct technique: In this method wax pattern is made inside the

patient’s mouth on the prepared tooth. However, this technique is
only applicable in cases were simple and small restorations are
designed e.g. inlays.
Indirect technique: In this method the wax pattern is fabricated
outside the patients mouth by using models or dies. Wax pattern of
every type of restoration can be made by this method.
 Spruing of wax pattern
Sprue can be defined as a channel in the refractory investment
through which molten alloy can reach the mould cavity, after the
wax has been eliminated.

This channel is made by attaching a suitable material called sprue

former (along with sprue base) with the wax pattern, which upon
investment is removed to form a channel.

Wax pattern

Sprue former

Sprue base
Functions of sprue former:

To form a mount for the wax pattern.

To form a channel for the elimination of wax during burnout

(lost-wax technique).

To create a channel for the ingress of molten alloy during casting.

Types of sprue former:
Different materials are used as sprue formers. The usual ones
include hollow metal sprue former (needs removal after setting of
investment), rounded wax (it burns out upon heating the
investment during burnout stage) and plastic sprue former (it also
burnout upon heating, however take longer time compared to
rounded wax).

Location of sprue former:

Sprue former is attached to the bulkiest portion of the wax pattern.

During its placement, the point of contact is flared to allow proper
flow of the molten allow in to the mould cavity.
Number of sprue former:
It depends upon the shape and size of the wax pattern. For small
and simple wax patterns, such as for inlays, only one sprue former
is adequate.

However, for casting complex shaped or larger appliances, two or

more sprue formers are necessary.
Placement of the sprued wax pattern in the casting
ring
Casting rings are metallic pipe like structures used to house and
support investment mould during casting procedures.

The sprued wax pattern is positioned in the centre of the casting

ring and the length of the sprue former is adjusted to position the
wax pattern close to the open end of the ring.

Casting rings of different sizes Diagrammatic illustration of wax pattern

position in casting ring
A ceramic (asbestos) casting ring liner is placed along the walls of
the ring. The liner basically have two benefits. First it provide a
pliable lining to the rigid metallic ring and thus helps in facilitating
the setting and thermal expansion of the investment material.

Secondly, it acts as a thermal insulator and prevents rapid cooling

of the investment mould.

Casting rings lined with

ceramic liners before
the investment of wax
pattern
 Investing the sprued wax pattern
After the proper placement of the sprued wax pattern, a suitable
investment material (in fluid state) is gently painted over the wax
pattern.

After the wax pattern is covered by a thin layer of the investment

material, the space around it is filled by pouring the fluid
investment material in the casting ring.

Investing wax pattern

with thin fluid investment
material
 Burnout of wax pattern
After the investment material is set, the metallic casting ring along
with the investment and wax pattern are placed in a oven (burnout
oven).

The burnout oven is used to eliminate the wax pattern and facilitate
the thermal (inversion) expansion of the investment material.

The temperature of the burnout oven is dependent upon the type of

material intended to be used for casting.

For gold alloys a temperature range of 400-700 ºC is used, for

Ni/Cr alloys a temperature range of 700-900 °C is used whereas,
for Co/Cr alloys a temperature of 1000 ºC is typical.
The burnout is aimed at a rate that allows steam and other gasses to
be eliminated without cracking the investment.

Moreover, it is necessary to heat the investment mould adequately

to enable thermal inversion and expansion of the refractory
investment material.
 Casting

For casting, numerous types of casting machines are available and

the aim of each type of machine is to completely fill the mould
cavity with the molten alloy.

There are three main variables which characterizes the different

types of casting machines;

The alloy may be melted in the mould sprue base (mould crucible)
or in a separate crucible located in the casting machine.

The alloy may be melted by one of several methods including gas-

air torch, oxyacetylene torch, electrical induction heating or
electrical resistance melting.
The molten alloy may be driven into the mould by gravity, air
pressure, steam pressure or by centrifugal force. The arm of the
centrifugal casting machine is rotated either by a spring or by
means of an electric motor.

Possibly the most popular system in current use is that in which

the alloy is melted in a separate crucible using electrical induction
heating and forced into the mould using centrifugal force.

A centrifugal
casting machine
In order to make a completely accurate casting with fine grain size,
it is necessary to maintain a perfect balance between the
temperature of the molten alloy and the investment mould.

The alloy should be hot enough to ensure that it is molten and

remain molten during the casting. But it should be not so hot that it
either oxides or its crystallization is delayed or it makes damaging
interactions with the mould wall.

Similarly the mould temperature should be great enough to ensure

complete thermal and inversion expansion and to prevent
premature crystallization of the alloy.
After the casting is completed. The casting ring assembly
(investment mould + casting) are allowed to cool down. And when
the alloy is completely crystallized, the investment along with the
casting is removed from the ring.

The investment is gently hammered in order to break it off the

casting. When the cast is retrieved from the investment, it is
subjected to pickling, finishing and polishing.
 Pickling, finishing and polishing

Pickling refers to the cleaning and removal of oxides from newly

casted metallic appliances by using 50% solution of sulphuric acid
or hydrochloric acid.

After pickling, the sprue (now taken the shape of a metallic rod) is
removed from the cast by using a hard cutting instrument like
tungsten carbide burs.

The gross irregularities are removed from the cast by using coarse
stones.

After that rubber wheels along with abrasive solutions are used for
polishing.
During finishing and polishing care is taken to protect cast
margins, proximal areas and occlusal contacts.

After polishing the restoration is smooth and lustrous.

Cast partially covered by the Same cast after removal of

investment material investment material and pickling
 Faults in casting
Faults in casting can be divided into four main types namely fining
& bubbling, incomplete casting, porosity in casting and undersized
or oversized casting.

Fining and bubbling:

Fining occurs when investment is heated too rapidly. This causes

the investment to crack. Molten alloy flows into these cracks and
upon solidifying appear as “fins” on the surface of casting.

Bubbling effect appear as excess material on the surface of casting.

The bubbling effect reflects the presence of porosities in the
investment which can be overcome by vacuum investing.
Both fining and bubbling increases the time and effort during
finishing and polishing and if they are located at critical areas such
as crown margins, then even recasting will be needed.

Finning on the surface of a cast Bubbling effect

Incomplete casting:
Incomplete casting can results from number of factors such as
improper location and number of sprues, improper melting of the
alloy, insufficient thrust generation during casting, back pressure
(inability of gases to escape the investment mould), shortage of
alloy reservoir (in other word, shortage of alloy) and cooling
shrinkage of alloy.

Diagrammatic
illustration of
incomplete casting
Porosity:
Porosity can be seen as surface pitting on the casting or maybe
revealed during finishing and polishing. Thus, porosity in casting
can be divided in two basic types i.e. Internal porosity and external
porosity.

Gaseous porosity (internal) can result from gases that get dissolved
in the molten alloy. On cooling the alloy liberate gases however,
some gas may remain trapped in the alloy as it sets. This type of
porosity is distributed throughout the casting.

Similarly, entrapment of gases in the mould cavity (back pressure)

can reveal itself as surface porosities (external).
Porosity may also result from too rapid cooling of the alloy.
Moreover, it can also appear in conditions where additional alloy is
prevented from entering the mould to compensate for cooling
shrinkage e.g. when the alloy present in the sprue gets solidify.

Porosities or
discrepancies at the
sprue attachment site
Undersized or oversized casting:
The final fit of a casting depends on a balancing out of expansions
and contractions which occur during its construction.

The major dimensional changes involved are the casting

shrinkage of the alloy which should be compensated for by the
setting expansion, thermal expansion and inversion of the
investment.

Faults in technique, for example not heating the investment

mould to a high enough temperature, may produce insufficient
compensation for casting shrinkage.

It should be remembered, however, that other factors such as the

choice of impression material and impression technique may also
influence the final result.
End