Q: What is a dental impression?
A: Usually at the beginning of a relationship with a dentist, the dentist may want to make a model of your dental structure. While such a model is useful in general treatment, it is essential in the case of a patient undergoing any extensive restorative or orthodontic treatment.
Customarily, the dentist will make a plaster model cast from an impression of your teeth and jaws. The dentist will create the impression by pressing a curved impression tray filled with a special paste over the teeth of one jaw. Within minutes, the paste will begin to set to a firm but rubbery consistency and the dentist will remove the tray. The dentist will then repeat the procedure on the other jaw.
Those impressions will go to a dental lab where the plaster models of your teeth and jaws will be cast. They'll then be mounted on what's called an articulator so the jaws open and close. The models form a baseline for reference and let the dentist, among other things, show you areas of concern. Ask your dentist for more information about models and impressions.
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