simple technique for making custom impression trays

SEPTEMBER 2000 THE JOURNAL OF PROSTHETIC DENTISTRY 371 Conventionally, baseplate wax is used as the spacing medium or blockout material for making custom impression trays. Quite often, the wax melts onto the tray during fabrication and can be tedious to remove. Fail- ure to remove all wax may interfere with the adhesion of impression material to the tray. A faster and cleaner method to make the tray can be accomplished with the use of a simple styrofoam tray commonly used for flu- oride applications. The procedure is performed using the following steps: 1. Select a suitably sized foam tray that fits the cast. 2. Using a sharp knife, cut out occlusal stops to form a tripod (Fig. 1). 3. Use small amounts of orthodontic wax inside the foam tray to stabilize it. 4. Place the light-polymerizing custom tray material over the foam tray and adapt it beyond the bor- ders of the foam to produce a “rim-lock” feature on the tray. 5. Light cure the material and peel out the foam tray. 6. Final cure and remove any rough edges. The tray can now be used (Fig. 2). Reprint requests to: DR CASIMIR LEKNIUS SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC 2155 WEBSTER ST SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115 FAX: (415)929-6654 E-MAIL: [email protected] Copyright © 2000 by The Editorial Council of The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. 0022-3913/2000/$12.00 + 0. 10/4/109188 doi:10.1067/mpr.2000.109188 Simple technique for making custom impression trays Casimir Leknius, DDS, MS, MA, MBA, a and Rae Henderson, BS b School of Dentistry, University of the Pacific, San Francisco, Calif. a Associate Professor, Department of Restorative Dentistry. b Senior Dental Student, Department of Restorative Dentistry. J Prosthet Dent 2000;84:371. Fig. 1. Occlusal stops are cut out to form tripod. Fig. 2. Finished tray.

Upload: casimir-leknius

Post on 19-Sep-2016

212 views

Category:

Documents

0 download

Report

Download

Embed Size (px):

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Simple technique for making custom impression trays

SEPTEMBER 2000 THE JOURNAL OF PROSTHETIC DENTISTRY 371

Conventionally, baseplate wax is used as the spacingmedium or blockout material for making custom im-pression trays. Quite often, the wax melts onto the trayduring fabrication and can be tedious to remove. Fail-ure to remove all wax may interfere with the adhesionof impression material to the tray. A faster and cleanermethod to make the tray can be accomplished with theuse of a simple styrofoam tray commonly used for flu-oride applications.

The procedure is performed using the following steps:1. Select a suitably sized foam tray that fits the cast. 2. Using a sharp knife, cut out occlusal stops to form

a tripod (Fig. 1).3. Use small amounts of orthodontic wax inside the

foam tray to stabilize it.4. Place the light-polymerizing custom tray material

over the foam tray and adapt it beyond the bor-ders of the foam to produce a “rim-lock” featureon the tray.

5. Light cure the material and peel out the foam tray. 6. Final cure and remove any rough edges. The tray can

now be used (Fig. 2).

Reprint requests to:DR CASIMIR LEKNIUS

SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY

UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC

2155 WEBSTER ST

SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115FAX: (415)929-6654 E-MAIL: [email protected]

0022-3913/2000/$12.00 + 0. 10/4/109188

doi:10.1067/mpr.2000.109188