Impressions for my Stouffville Braces: The Next Step Towards Getting My Braces!

One of the first steps in orthodontic treatment at our Stouffville Orthodontist is a dental impression, to create records of my teeth. It is taken in order to finalize a treatment plan, and in my case, to prepare my braces for indirect bonding (I will describe this in more detail in a future entry).

I had my impressions taken a few days ago! The impression material called alginate is placed inside impression trays that the dental hygienist or assistant chooses to fit your mouth.

Alginate impression trays for models

Then you place it inside the patients mouth and wait for it to harden. It usually takes 30-45 seconds.

Selfie having my impression taken at my Stouffville Orthodontist!

Out came an impression of my teeth and a wax bite for how my teeth fit together.

This whole process only took a few minutes doing top and bottom, including a wax bite to figure out the position of my jaw/teeth when they are together.

Many people are worried about gagging.  The picture above shows my upper impression with too much material in it.  The material flowing into the back of the throat is not necessary (but I wanted you to see what it might look like!) and can be avoided by the impression-taker not filling the tray completely.  It is very important to breathe through your nose while the impression is taken. If the patient gags during this process, the hygienist/assistant is not able to remove the impression from the mouth until it is set.

A few easy tips to make this as seamless as possible:

-Breathe through your nose.

-Keep your tongue down & don't swallow.

-If you do start to gag, start to kick your legs! It distracts your mind from gagging and when your stomach muscles tighten, you won't feel like gagging anymore.

Keep in mind that there is also another way to take a record of the teeth with an intraoral scanner.  You can learn more about the Invisalign iOC scanner we have here:

In a couple days my braces will be ready!!! So excited to finally get them put on after so many years of wanting them.