National Dental Assisting Examining Board (NDAEB) Practice Exam

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Prepare for the National Dental Assisting Exam with comprehensive quiz questions, including multiple choice and detailed explanations. Equip yourself for success!

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A condition called ______ will occur if an alginate impression absorbs additional water.

Dehydration
Imbibition
Contamination
Contraction

The correct answer is: Imbibition

Imbibition refers to the process by which materials, such as alginate impressions, absorb water from their surrounding environment. When an alginate impression is exposed to moisture or additional water, it can swell, resulting in distortion and changes in shape. This is a critical consideration in dental procedures because an accurate impression is necessary for creating effective models or prosthetics. When alginate absorbs water, it not only changes its dimensions but may also lose some of its original detail. This makes understanding imbibition crucial for dental assistants and practitioners who need to minimize the effects of environmental factors on their impressions. The other terms listed describe different phenomena; dehydration involves loss of moisture, contamination refers to the introduction of unwanted materials, and contraction indicates a reduction in size, which is not relevant in the case of imbibition.