A universal dental impression material system uses a programmable device (10) having containers for separately housing two or more components that form a dental impression material when mixed. A mixing chamber (20) and a dispensing means respectively receive/mix the components and dispense the dental impression material. One or more viscosity modification zones (30) are configured to apply viscosity manipulation to a component prior to mixing, to the components in the mixing chamber (20) during mixing, and/or to the dental impression material in the dispensing means after mixing. A user interface accepts user input of desired properties, such as viscosity, color, work/set time and/or extrusion rate. A controller operatively coupled to the user interface is configured to control dispensing of the components to the mixing chamber (20), activation as needed of the viscosity modification zones (30), and dispensing from the dispensing means in response to the user input to achieve the desired properties.
