Dental Impressions: When Should you Take One?

When do I take dental impressions of my teeth?

Well, a lot depends on your dental condition. First off though, what are dental impressions?

Dental impressions are like any other impressions taken from other parts of your body, like thumb-impressions for finger prints. ‘Tooth-prints’, if you like. They will retain the structure and intricate details of your original teeth so that any reproductions as such can be as accurate as possible.

How Does It Help?

Impressions of the teeth determine the shape of your bite (underbite, overbite or perfect bite?). The end result is an exact mold which helps the medical practitioner in determining the optimal strategy. When you wear artificial teeth that has been designed based on your tooth print, your mouth will take less time to adjust to it. When the practitioner is finished with the work, you’ll feel the overall surgery is as expected, with least amount of irritation to anything around the area.

What is the Procedure?

Here is a look at how it works.

• The dentist uses two trays which have an approximate shape of human teeth and fills them with a viscous solution.
• Popular solutions are Vinyl Polysiloxane or the newer Impregnum Polyether.
• Whichever solution used, it is usually tasteless.
• The dental Assistant or your Doctor, will perform pressure to the trays which are inserted appropriately against your teeth.
• You’ll know it is in position when you feel the solution on your gums.
• The solution is allowed to take about 3 minutes to harden a little bit in this position, and then the whole assembly is removed in the exact reverse manner in which it is inserted.

Why do we need them?

The usual reasons are for fixing broken teeth or cracked ones, creating dental crowns, bridges, and custom made mouth-guards for sport players, and more. They can be taken before creating dentures to suit your inner jaw structure as well.

The most common use is to get any prosthetic surgery on your teeth look as perfect as possible. Also, if mouth guards are not made according to perfect measure and with the right texture, it might take a while for you to chew and talk wearing it. Your gums may even bruise because the make does not match your original teeth.

When do I decide to take these impressions?

It is generally the dentist or orthodontist that makes the decision. When your teeth start falling out or you have serious problems with them, and need replacements or major surgery, the dentist has to make sure that the substitute is as close to the exact shape and position as possible.