Erin Hills Dental - Blog

Do you clench or grind your teeth at night?

Has your dentist recommended sleeping with a nightguard?

Are you looking to brighten your smile with professional whitening?

Are your teeth out of alignment and you’re considering Invisalign?

Dental impressions are the first step towards creating a wide range of personal dental appliances including nightguards and alignment trays that can help correct the problems above and more.

What are dental impressions?

Dental impressions are used to create an exact model or replica of the size and shape of your mouth. It will show a dentist and denturist the exact size and curvature of your gums and arches and highlight the specific way your upper and lower jaws meet.

This accuracy is essential in creating mouthguards, tooth alignment trays, dentures, crowns, bridges, whitening trays and more so they fit your mouth perfectly.

How are dental impressions made?

Previously, the only way to have dental impressions made was to use a yucky, clay-like putty material that you bite into and allow to slightly harden. This hardened material forms an exact copy of your mouth and is then sent to a lab to be used as a model for your appliance.

This technique is effective, but it is also messy and unenjoyable for the patient.

Digital dental scanners

Thanks to advances in dental technologies, the team at Erin Hills Dental uses a digital scanner to take impressions so our patients no longer have to deal with the outdated way of doing things.

The iTero Impression Scanner makes it possible for your dentist in Erin to take a 3D scan of your teeth and bite, make real-time adjustments to the scans, and digitally transmit them to the lab where your appliance will be built. The results are more accurate and require no putty to obtain an exact impression of your mouth.

If you are in need of a new dental appliance and are not interested in a mouth full of goopy putty, call our office to schedule an appointment today. We’ll assess the current condition of your mouth and teeth, discuss the options available for dental appliances, and walk you through the process of having digital impressions made of your mouth.