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Dental Tribune Untited Kingdom Edition

13Lab TribuneApril 16-22, 2012United Kingdom Edition R4Practice Management Software GIVES YOU MORE AND KEEPS ON GIVING constantly improving constantly developing constantly delivering For more information or to place an order please call 0800 169 9692 email sales.uk.csd@carestream.com or visit www.carestreamdental.co.uk Carestream Dental © Carestream Dental Ltd., 2012. featuReS of R4 R4 Mobile Direct link to PIN pad Patient Check-in Kiosk Care Pathways Communicator Steritrak E-Forms Patient Journey On-line Appointment Booking Text Message and Email reminders Clinical Notes Appointment Book Digital X-Ray Managed Service Practice Accounts More features, More benefits, More time, More support, all of which can help you achieve More patients and More profits ...and there’s still more to come awkward to use. I frequently have to ask dentists to retake their impressions after receiv- ing a model which shows that the patient has bitten through the tray into the mesh. Avoid- ing this can be tricky and a lot depends on how much mate- rial needs to be used and how deep the outside of the tray is. Having said that, with the right technique triple trays can be successfully used for small inlays but I would avoid using them for any- thing more complex, such as bridgework. Another word of warning: triple trays may at first ap- pear to be the cost effective method of taking impressions but my experience tells me otherwise. With their lack of consistency and inability to take an impression of full upper and lower arches, im- pressions frequently have to be retaken. This involves rescheduling appointments at great inconvenience to both the patient and the den- tist, costing time and, ulti- mately, money. Dental Technology schools heed a warning regarding tri- ples trays as a source of inac- curacy and therefore a higher rate of device failure. Some even go as far as refusing to work on triple tray impres- sions at all. Most laboratories will re- fuse to fabricate any bridge work on triple tray impres- sions, and rightly so, as the functionality of the bridge cannot be created or checked. If working only on the quad- rant, the excursions of the full arch cannot be replicated which is essential information for the technician to have. In- evitably dentists may have to grind bridgework chair-side and create any guide planes by sight and feedback from the patient. Surely the cost of extended chair time is more than the cost of taking full arch impressions. It can be very easy to be- come accustomed to using the system that you have done for years and it is under- standable why at first clini- cians might be loath to switch their impression tray. Never- theless, I do believe that by using full arch stock trays, practitioners will benefit from more accurate restora- tions, a smoother service and an easier relationship with their laboratory. Likewise, the patient will receive an excel- lent restoration quickly and hopefully without having to return to the practice for a re- peat impression. DT ‘With the right tech- nique triple trays can be successfully used for small in- lays but I would avoid using them for anything more complex, such as bridgework’ About the author David Hands and Neil Photay are Elite Managers of CosTech Elite den- tal laboratory. For more information on CosTech Elite Dental Laboratory or for a free Elite pack call 01474 320 076 or visit www.costech.co.uk By taking full arc impressions, dentists won’t have to extend patient chair time