Take 1® Advanced™ Final Impression Material: Precise Delivery, Better Control
Robert A. Lowe, DDS, is a lecturer and clinical instructor who speaks on behalf of various dental product manufacturers, including Kerr Dental. Kerr’s Take 1® Advanced™ Final Impression Material, he says, is one of the impression materials he prefers in his private practices in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Chicago, Illinois.
Lowe says the key to taking accurate impressions from which well-fitting restorations can be fabricated lies in combining the use of excellent techniques and high-quality materials. Additionally, given the potential for the introduction of errors during the multi-step restoration fabrication process, using a good laboratory is part of the “formula for getting it right on the first try,” he says.
Calling moisture—eg, from blood and saliva—“the main enemy of impression materials,” Lowe notes that the greatest challenge in impression-taking is ensuring a good environment in which to produce the impressions. “Just as important as any attribute of the impression material, success depends on the dentist’s ability to control the clinical environment,” he explains.
That said, however, Lowe suggests that dentists who use appropriate technique and materials and work with a good lab can fabricate a crown that fits within the clinically acceptable range of 30 to 50 microns. The choice of impression material is, to a great extent, he says, a matter of personal preference based on differing working styles. “Like nearly everything in dentistry—for example, composites—doctors have their own favorites.”
One unique feature of Take 1 Advanced wash material is its all-in-one uni-dose syringe, which, Lowe submits, makes delivery of the light-body material into the gingival sulcus more precise. “The uni-dose syringe gives me a lot more control than other methods. That control is helpful in delivering the light-bodied material to the submarginal area, resulting in a perfect impression.”
Lowe points out important characteristics of impression materials like Take 1. Dimensional stability—ie, the ability of a material to recover its shape without distortion—can come into play throughout the restoration preparation process, he says, including during transit to the lab. Calling Take 1 “an extremely stable material,” he says the result is fewer problems with the product that comes back from the lab.
Lowe also stresses the importance of an impression material’s tear strength, particularly when stretched around undercuts. He says valuable information can be lost if the impression material separates at the area below the margin, where the emergence profile of the tooth is captured.
Take 1 Advanced is available in a wide variety of set times, viscosities, and delivery methods—including the uni-dose syringe for light-body—to suit the individual preference of the practitioner. For example, Lowe describes his own preference: “I like a light-body that has a lot of good flow but doesn’t drip, and I like a heavy-body that has some resistance to pressure so that when I’m placing the impression tray, the material is not dripping out of the tray and running down the patient’s throat.”
Noting the significant issue of coordinating timing for materials in different phases, Lowe says different clinical situations call for different set times. “I think it is important to have a fast set and a regular set. If I’m trying to impress 10 teeth at once, I want a longer set time than when I’m doing a single preparation or quadrant. When doing multiple teeth, you need more working time, such that the light-bodied material doesn’t start setting before the practitioner can seat the heavy-bodied tray material and the impression tray.”
With the cost of digital impression systems remaining still relatively high, Lowe believes general dentists will continue to depend on traditional impression methods and materials for years to come. For this reason, he stresses the importance of selecting high-quality products to maximize their advantages and best avoid errors that lead to impression retakes, or even worse, restoration remakes.
Kerr Corporation
1717 West Collins
Orange, CA 92867
800-537-7123
