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.

My Journey to A Beautiful Smile with Stouffville Orthodontist Dr. Jason Tam

My name is Emma and am currently a Registered Dental Hygienist at a Markham Orthodontist. I've been in the dental field for about 8 years now, starting as a Level II Dental Assistant at an Endodontic (Root canal specialist) office. I joined TeamMCO in the fall of 2011 and after seeing so many beautiful MCO smiles, I decided to get my own perfect smile!

When I was younger, my mom could not afford braces. Understandable seeing as she is a single mom with three kids. Wanting the perfect smile, I decided to seek out a consultation when I was 19 at a previous Orthodontist office. The Orthodontist informed me that I am a surgery case. Meaning I would need 3 years of braces, with upper and lower jaw surgery because my lower jaw was too far back. Being 19, my body stopped its growth, therefore we were not able to direct my lower jaw forward with appliances. Then I was told once my lower jaw came forward with surgery, my chin might have to get shaved down because it was very prominent. Once hearing about that last part, I decided against it. So life went on and I always had the idea of braces in the back of my mind. Working with MCO Orthodontics brought that back to the forefront.

Dr. Jason Tam gave me an alternate treatment option knowing that I did not want surgery. The option was braces for 2 years, with an extraction of my upper left premolar to correct my deviated midline and class 2 elastics. I could have chosen Invisalign, ceramic braces or metal braces. I decided on metal braces. As we move forward in my 2 years of treatment, I will describe the process of getting the braces and the journey that comes along with adjustments as well as getting my premolar extracted!