Dentaltown December 2020 - 60

1
Packing cord
enhances
restoration
designs.

2

smallest sizes-most commonly #00 and
#0-should be used to properly displace
the tissue without damaging it.
Next, determine whether a cord that has
been processed with a hemostatic agent or
other medicaments extraorally is necessary.
Lastly, you will need to decide if the one-cord
or two-cord technique is right for your
particular case. The two-cord approach,
which is more common, involves leaving
one of the cords in the sulcus while taking
the impression.
Using packing cord to take better
impressions isn't a new dental technique,
but it can add a new sense of ease for your
practice and patients when more of your
final restorations seat well on the first try.

- DigiTech Dental Restorations
(digitechlab.com; 888-336-1301)

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Photography is one of the most powerful
tools you can use to communicate with the
lab. Your pictures, clipped to a prescription or
sent digitally, showcase the vision of the smile
makeover. Intra- and extraoral photographs
assist your technical adviser, who works
directly with you on your case to ensure that
the proper restorative solutions are utilized
to optimize results. Whether they're used to
discuss shade selection, material formulations
or procedural techniques, pictures can aid
in problem-solving if you run into questions
or need guidance. And photos can be part
of a more detailed patient record.
When taking pictures for the lab,
remember these five tips:
1. Position your patient for head-on shots
with the patient looking directly
ahead in a relaxed manner.
2. For close-up shots, hold the camera
at a 90-degree angle from the
teeth. The lens and teeth should
be perpendicular, whether you're

60

While it may be tempting to skip packing
cord while taking an impression, doing so
results in a missed opportunity to enhance
the accuracy and precision of the final
restoration. Blood and crevicular f luid
often distort impressions, leaving you with
a final restoration that may require multiple
chairside adjustments. We recommend
packing cord to encourage a better final
delivery experience for you and your patients.
This strategy pushes the gums away from
the impression material, allowing you to
take a more accurate impression that will
lead to a better-fitting restoration.
Logistically, there are many changes
you can make to your impression routine to
avoid lab remakes and ill-fitting restorations,
even before you insert the cord. You first
need to analyze what cord size should be
used for your patient. In most cases, the

shooting from a lateral view
or head-on.
3. For difficult-to-reach posterior
teeth, use a clean intraoral
mirror with a long handle to
retract cheeks and reflect the
subject area at a more direct
angle.
4. Ensure that intraoral pictures
represent a natural bite to
capture the true orientation
of teeth. If patients are
presenting an artificial
smile-with protrusive jaw,
stretched smile or bite out of centric
occlusion-tell them to bite down on
the back teeth and help them focus
on natural positioning.
5. Document the treatment process.
Start with " before " images of the
patient and shade shots illustrating
real-life tooth color. Follow with
images of the teeth after prep, and

visually document the stump shade,
provisional restoration and final
seating of the definitive restoration.
Finish with " after " shots.
Taking high-quality photographs will
become straightforward and easy once
you've gained experience, but don't hesitate
to reach out to your technical adviser with
any questions.
- Las Vegas Digital Dental Solutions
(lvddslab.com; 800-936-1848)

DECEMBER 2020 // dentaltown.com

DT1220_GlidewellLabs_MM.indd 60

11/17/20 12:48 PM
http://www.digitechlab.com http://www.lvddslab.com http://www.dentaltown.com
Dentaltown December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown December 2020
