Functional impression is one of the fundamental steps for the success of the rehabilitation treatment. Therefore, the objective of this work is, by means of a literature review, characterized as the main characteristics of the materials used in the functional impression in total prosthesis. The review was carried out through research in the database PubMed, Google Acadêmico, Lilacs and Scielo between the months of May to July 2020. Were used for the search of descriptors such as total prosthesis, materials for dental impression and dental materials. Secondary impression is divided into two stages: peripheral sealing and functional impression. The materials are classified as elastic and anelastic and must be used according to each clinical situation. To guarantee the quality of the functions, it is essential that all necessary steps are followed. In this context, being a functional molding conditioned according to the mucosa resilience, the present study was linked to describe the different materials, in order to ascertain their specificities according to the conditions of each individual. The professional must understand the characteristics of functional impression materials to develop better results in prosthetic rehabilitation, obeying the criteria obtained from the clinical examination of the patient, respecting the recommendations of each manufacturer of the material, and presenting the technique in which the dentist dominates and feel able to perform the procedure.