The trays in dentistry are instruments used for the taking of primary dental impressions, which produces that are quite current within our clinics because they have to be used for different treatments and specialties.
Therefore, when we are thinking of acquiring the best dental impression tray and we start looking for it, we find a variety in the materials that we may doubt when choosing the best option. However, one of the advantages offered by the trays is that they are adaptabe to the material which is used, meaning the same tray can be used with alginate or silicone.
Therefore, in this article we want to tell you some basic tips that can make your choice much easier.
What are the materials of the dental impression trays?
One of the advantages trays is the variety of materials. This means that we can adapt them to the needs of our work
Among the materials used to manufacture the printing trays, we find metal trays, plastic trays, teflon trays, vinylotermoplast trays, light-curing acrylic trays or self-curing scrylic trays. Metal (resuable and autoclavable) and plastic are the most common.Plastic can be reusable and sterilizable as well as single-use.
Which dental impression tray is the most suitable for each specialty?
Having so much diversity in shape and size can cause confusion when making a final decision, but it is beneficial to have such a choice to ensure the product fits your clinc. To ensure confusion is avoided, we want to give you a quick and concise guide on which tray could be the most suitable for each specialty.
Dental impression trays for implantology
For this specialty we can find trays of different materials and they are all suitable in order to perform an accruate job. But if you ar looking for greater ease when working, it is advisable to use plastic trays to be able to make the cuts, which we consider appropriate for the perfect performance of the treatment.
For patients who have dental implants very close together, we recommend taking into account where we are going to take the impression out because, for the material to perform its elastic behavior during disinsertion, there must be a minimum of 2mm thickness.
In addition, if we are going to deal with periodontal patients, it is advisable that we block the spaces between the teeth with alginate or cotton pellets; otherwise we will have difficulties inserting the tray without tearing or deforming the material.
From Dentaltix, we recommend several trays for dental implantology,both for offering value for money and for being the best rated by our customers. Here you can find them in plastic, which are sterilizable and / or disposable:
- Miratray implant by Hager Werken. Implant trays with 6-unit impression for a clear and clean impression
- Medicaline green print cuvettes , in 10 units and perforated with a perfect anatomy
- 3M Disposable impression trays. It is a box of 10 units available in 3 sizes - S, M, L
Dental impression trays for use in orthodontics
In the orthodontics field,the choice of one tray or another is usually more focused on the preference of the dentist, since the material in this case is a less determining factor.
Therefore, if we are with the uncertainty of not knowing which tray will be the most suitable, our recommendation is to think about the economic factor.
For this reason, the best trays are the metallic ones, since we will be able to sterilize them in autoclave and reuse them without needing to make a greater investment.
In this case, the best rated metal orthodontic trays by our customers are:
- Rim Lock printing units in stainless steel with double roll. Available for upper and lower arches in sizes XS, S, M, L and XL.
- HI-TRAY is a Set of Rim Lock stainless steel trays (8 units) from Zhermack
- Perforated printing cells from DTE.
Perfect trays for dental prostheses
As with orthodontics, for total dentures it may be more beneficial to use metal trays, because changes will not be required and they can be reused.
For the realisation of veneers, bridges, crowns and incrustations we recommend the partial trays, saving in material and it will create greater comfort for the patient by not having to support a whole tray during oral cavity. In this case, the material will be determined by the personal preference of the dentist, although plastic trays may be the most manageable.
Although for prosthesis we can use total and partial, following the previous recommendation, we recommend the partial trays, we want to recommend the partial trays best valued by our customers:
- CEO Perforated trays of 12 units from GC
- ALGILOCK PARTIELL (Right + Left), unperforated metal cuvettes,trays, stainless steel from Hager Werken
- Perforated partial cells 402C trays for right or left hemiarcade from Carl Martin
Dental impression cubicles for paediatric dentistry
In the pediatric dentistry field, the trays are used for diagnositc work, pre-orthodontics, application of flouride and for removable appliances.
The aspect that we have to highlight most of this field is to observe that we are choosing the right size. In adults, there are different sizes, but an S size for adults is not the same as an S size for children. Therefore, when choosing a tray we must be sure that it is an instrument for paediatric dentistry.
While among adults, the sizes are more general, in the field of pediatric dentistry we can find sizes as small as XXS, XS and S.
In our website you can also find printing trays for the children, both plastic and metal or even for the application of fluoride:
- Pediatric dentistry 418S available in S, XS and XXS from Carl Martin
- DuraLock Plus (50 units) are perforated plastic impression trays from Ortho Technology. These trays have variations for aduts and for pediatric use
- Disposable tubs for fluoridation in both arches at the same time of the brand Medicaline
Which dental impression tray size is the most suitable for each patient?
Although the speciality for which we ae going to use the tray for is very important, but the size should also be a factor, which shoudl equally be considered.
The first thing is to determine if we want a tray for the upper or lower jaw, since these are usually sold separately.
The next thing to consider is to know if our patient is an adult or a child and, within adults, to know if they are male or female. This is due to the fact that men tend to have larger jaws than women, and that children's trays are adapted to their smaller oral cavities. Therefore, it is always advisable to have at least one tray of each size for both children and adults in our cabinet, usually small, medium and large.
To know if a tray is suitable or not for the patient, when testing it, we should look at whether or not it covers all of the dental pieces, checking that the most posterior ones are also included in them.
If we fine that the size of the tray does not allow this, we must move we must move to the next size. Howeverm there are times when the next size may be too large, leaving us with other options:
- Make a customized tray for the patient
- Lengthen the extension of the tray, if possible, with the wax and this will allow it to adapt to the individual patient
In addition, we must observe that when testing the tray it is loose, so that between the dental pieces and the flanks of the tray there is a space, which will be filled by the impression material.
Discover all our solutions to detect fingerprints
As we have seen, there is a vast variety of printing trats, so the choice is sometimes just determined by individual preferences. Therefore, we hope that this article will support your choice, making it easier, and you will be able to see the existing materials and which are the most commonly used in each speciality.
However, if you want to know about impression taking, we recommend our article: The main printing materials: everything you need to know about alginates and silicones to be abe to gather information about the printing materials.
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