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Friday 20 November 2009

Impressions


Eek! This is the biggest chip and pin payment I've ever made!


My Impressions and Bite

I had my impressions taken yesterday for my brace. At this appointment I paid £1500 for my brace to be ordered from the factory in Germany. I also booked the date for my lower set of braces to be fitted - 20th January 2010!

Impressions are moulds of your teeth from which actual models of your teeth can be cast. Here is a website with some pictures of impressions on.

I had a blue putty impression taken to begin with. They feel big and a little uncomfortable in your mouth but don't need to be in for very long, so it's fine. My orthodontist chatted to me about the braces and he also had a digital radio playing good music so it seemed really quick to me!

As the impressions need to be sent away and there will be a very high definition 3D scan made of the teeth from them, a very detailed impression needs to be taken. My orthodontist then squirted a purple liquid into the blue impressions and re-inserted them into my mouth to take a second, more detailed impression on top. This was slightly more uncomfortable and had to be in for a few more minutes. It had to be pressed really firmly into my teeth so that a good impression could be taken which hurt my gums a little bit.

My top set of impressions had to be done twice as there was a tiny error on one of the teeth. I didn't mind at all though, because it's so important to have it as accurate as possible for the brace to be made to fit. The second time, the orthodontist squirted some of the purple liquid directly onto my teeth so that he would definitely get an accurate one the second time.

I also bit into a pink piece of wax to show how my teeth connect and bite together.

Impressions Tips:
  • Use lots of lip salve or vaseline on the two days before your appoinment as they need to be stretched wide.
  • Breathe through your nose.