Dental Impressions

If you have already undergone any restorative dental procedures or had a new dental appliance, or are getting one, obtaining a dental impression of your teeth may be one of the first crucial steps. They are commonly used in a number of dental procedures like creating an aligner, retainer, mouthguard, whitening trays, crowns, dentures, and more. 

What Are Dental Impressions?

Dental impressions are negative imprints or patterns of the patient's teeth and oral cavity, including gums, bone, surrounding tissues, etc. Dentist in Murfreesboro TN uses dental impressions to construct three-dimensional models, which will be sent to dental labs for fabricating dental devices. They're generally a common preliminary step in orthodontics, prosthodontics, restorative dentistry, and oral surgery and are obtained to ensure that the restorative material or the new oral appliance fits perfectly into the patient's mouth, aligning around their teeth and bite.

Dental impressions are detailed molds or replicas of a patient's teeth and oral tissues used by dentist in 37129 to create various dental appliances, restorations, and prosthetics. These impressions capture the unique contours, size, and arrangement of the teeth and surrounding structures, allowing dental professionals to fabricate custom-made dental devices tailored to the individual patient's needs.

Why Dental Impressions?

Dental impressions are the best way to fabricate customized dental restoration or an oral appliance that exactly fits the patient's mouth.

They are beneficial because of the following reasons:

• To prevent misfitting of restorations and prosthetics. 
• To prevent inaccuracy in fabricating restorations.
• To support fabrication of well-fitted prosthesis. 

Traditional Vs. Digital Dental Impressions

Traditional Impressions

The process of getting dental impressions requires the patient to bite into a well-fitted, U-shaped tray containing a liquid material, like alginate or polyvinyl siloxane. The patient will need to wait for a few minutes biting on the tray while the alginate material sets.

This mode of obtaining digital impressions in the traditional way possesses some disadvantages. Those patients with a strong gag reflex or TMJ issues may find it difficult to sit still for long. Besides, the strong flavor of the putty can cause patients to gag or throw up while the putty sets. Call us to learn more.

Digital Impressions

With the advent of digital impressions, the discomforts offered by the goopy impression material are eliminated. Besides, it also allows for better-fitted, precise final smile restoration.

Digital impression technology solutions are now available in two types - the first one captures images as digital photographs while the latter captures them as digital video. With digital impressions, the images are obtained using either digital scanning or lasers. 

The major benefits of digital impressions are the following:

• Improved impression quality and precision for better-fitting, accurate restorations.
• Less chair time.
• Doesn't involve any distasteful impression materials that may cause patients to throw up.
• More comfortable and quick process.
• Allow patients to see their impressions on-screen chairside.
• The digital impression can be safely stored electronically.
  

  Overall, dental impressions play a vital role in modern dentistry by serving as a precise and reliable method for capturing the necessary information to create high-quality dental prosthetics and restorations tailored to each patient's unique oral anatomy.

To learn more about dental impressions, call Stonegate Family Dentistry at (615) 624-6919 to book an appointment. You can also visit us at 206 A N Thompson Lane, Murfreesboro, TN 37129.