Static pressure seal of earmolds.

Four experiments were carried out to investigate the effect on the static pressure seal of earmolds made from currently used impression and earmold materials; the occasional practice of making more than one earmold from an impression; the earmoldmaker buildup of impressions; and the multistage buildup of impressions by the impression taker. Experiment 1 showed that the chance of sealing the ear with earmolds made by the ordinary two-stage technique with only general buildup of the impression was approximately 10 percent and that none of the impression or earmold materials significantly improved the chance of obtaining a seal. Experiment 2 showed that the chance of obtaining a seal with multiple earmolds made from the one impression was zero, or very close to zero. Experiment 3 revealed that the chance of obtaining a seal increased to 55 percent when the earmold was made from an impression which was specially built up by the earmoldmaker. Experiment 4 showed that the chance of sealing the ear with earmolds made from multistage impressions was significantly greater (87.5 percent) than sealing the ear with those made from impressions specially built up by the earmoldmaker.