Impression

To create a custom-fitted dental prosthesis such as an , bridge, crown, or denture, dentists must take an impression of your teeth. This could be a preliminary impression to diagnose your oral structures, a final impression to create the appliance, or a bite registration to assess how your upper and lower rows of teeth line up when you close your mouth.

Regardless of the purpose, dental impressions can be done either with dental putty or digital software.

The traditional dental putty method involves the soft impression material being poured into a metal or plastic tray shaped like a mouthguard. This is placed over your teeth until it sets and hardens so it can be sent to a lab. There, the impression left by your teeth can be turned into a stone mold that will become the cast of your mouth used to create the prosthesis.

Digital dental impressions are the modern version of this procedure. No material is required – instead, the dental provider uses a scanner to take multiple pictures of your teeth, which the computer can combine into a digital 3D model of your mouth. These files can then be sent to the lab for the creation of your implant.