Custom Teeth Whitening Tray Dental Impression Tips

The majority of smilebrillint.com customers who purchase our at home custom teeth whitening trays take good impressions; however it can be a bit overwhelming considering most have never performed this task. As a means of assisting you with your custom whitening tray creation I will provide a few tips on taking your own dental impressions.

Prior to taking your impressions tell yourself “it’s easy” because it is in fact quite simple. All you must do is mix the two paste together until a solid light blue, set impression material in the tray, and press the tray into your teeth deep enough to cover all teeth and your gum line.

Tip 1: Mix paste within 45 seconds. When the catalyst and base paste are mixed together they react by hardening. The hardening time is estimated to be 3 minutes. The sooner you get the tray in your mouth the better your impression will be because as the paste hardens it becomes more difficult to get a deep enough impression.

Tip 2: Press evenly and hold steady. On occasion we will receive a customer’s impression and the molars and/or front teeth did not go deep enough into the impression material. To ensure you take a deep impression place your thumbs on the ends of the tray and your fingers on the front of the tray and handle as you press directly up.

Tip 3: Massage around gums. Pressing the tray deep enough so the impression material flows beyond your gum line will help us create a better set of teeth whitening trays. Massage the overflowing impression material around your gums for a snug, more precise dental impression. When we create your teeth whitening trays we prefer leaving an extra flap that extends further than the tooth line to capture teeth whitening gel that flows beyond the gum line.

Tip 4: Leave impression material in mouth until hard. The instructions say to leave in for 3 minute however, leaving it in a little longer will help prevent altering the impression.

Other info:

• Be sure to fill out the return card (NOTE it does NOT commit you to the extra gel purchase unless you sign the side with the offer.)
• Only include 2 impressions in the return envelope, others wise it will exceed the weight of the prepaid postage. If you took 3 and are indecisive as to which to send you can include an additional USPS stamp to cover the required postage.

Erin Stelbrink

Erin Stelbrink is a Registered Dental Hygienist with 5+ years of experience as a licensed hygienist and oral health care professional. She holds a passion for researching and acquiring awareness of the latest technologies and methods for providing valuable health care service and clinical treatment. Have more questions? Email Erin at [email protected]