Always Use Two Hands to Syringe the Impression Material

The problem with final impressions is that they are so ... final. This is truly one time when "good enough" really isn't. This is one time when the procedure has to be perfect if I am going to get the result I am after. That's why I always use two hands to syringe the impression material. Let me take you back a few years.

Remember when you had to mix the goo on a pad and put it into one of these before you could syringe it around the prep(s)? I can handle one of these with one hand, no problem. My troubles started when we were introduced to the "simplicity" of the self-mixing materials that we could mix and syringe at the same time.

Put a little tip on this gun and it becomes the intra-oral syringe. Maybe I'm just a teeny bit clumsy, but I had a hard time trying to control the gun compared to that simple, sleek, metal syringe. I need to use two hands to do it well. That's where this comes in ...

These retractors open everything up and let me use two hands to apply my impression material. (They also let me get great scans with my CEREC blue cam.) The secret is the little "paddle" that pushes out the cheek and creates clearance. I LOVE them and want to thank Jim Fay for introducing them to me.

Sadly, the company that made the ones Jim gave me is no longer making them, but a couple companies still make them and they are available through both Patterson and Schein.