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1. Steps to make your prints from home
1.2 Wash your hands and brush your teeth
1.3 Check that the impression trays fit in your mouth
1.4 Mix and shape the putty you will use for printing
1.6 Submit photos from different angles for approval
1.7 Send your impressions by mail
1.9 Receive Your Treatment Plan and Aligners
Order your impression kit if you haven’t already.
Steps to make your prints from home
The first step in starting your treatment with ALIGNERCO is to make dental impressions of your teeth. This is something you can easily do at home with the help of our printing kit. When you order your impression kit, we will mail it right to your door and after you have taken your impressions you can mail them back free of postage. It’s important that you understand the process so you can get great impressions so we can create a treatment plan that works for you.
Use this guide to take your impressions the right way so you can receive your treatment plan.
KEEP A RECORD OF THE TIME
Before you start taking your impressions, make sure you have a device to help you keep track of time. You need to take your impressions quickly, so it’s important to make sure you’re not taking too long. Your phone or a watch is ideal, you just need something with which you can count the minutes and seconds.
WASH YOUR HANDS AND BRUSH YOUR TEETH
Get ready to take your impressions, first of all you must clean your hands very well. This is important to ensure that the process is as hygienic as possible to prevent anything from getting into the putty you will be using for your prints. You should also brush your teeth so they are clean and ready to make good impressions.
MAKE SURE THE PRINT TRAYS FIT YOUR MOUTH
It is important to check if the impression trays fit in your mouth before taking your impressions. If these do not fit, you can contact us and we will send you the appropriate trays, either larger or smaller depending on your case. Without putting anything on the trays, insert them into your mouth and check that they are not too loose or too tight in your mouth. The trays must not hurt your teeth, in addition to covering them in their entirety, including the posterior molars. Check both trays, lower and upper and in case you need different sizes send an email to team@alignerco.com
MIX AND SHAPE THE PUTTY YOU WILL USE FOR PRINTING
Now your phone or watch will be useful as a timer. Your impression kit contains a white putty and a colored putty, which must be mixed together. Mix a white putty with a colored putty until they are completely mixed. Try to do this in less than 30 seconds. Once the mixture is streak-free and a uniform color, shape the putty by rubbing it between your palms into a sausage shape. The putty should be long enough to cover both ends of the build pad. Place and secure the sausage inside the tray, making sure it covers the entire tray and its edges. You must do this in less than 15 seconds.
TAKE THE IMPRESSIONS
To take an impression, place the tray in your mouth pointing toward the center. Use your fingers to press the tray against your teeth, making sure the putty reaches your gums. You should wait four and a half minutes and then immediately remove the tray. Leave the impression in the plastic tray.
Repeat this process until you have two impressions of your upper arch and two impressions of your lower arch, or read the instructions provided by the smile specialist.
SUBMIT PHOTOS FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES FOR APPROVAL
Before sending your prints to ALIGNERCO, email photos of your prints at different angles so they can be approved. Wait until you receive approval for your prints before doing anything else.
To make sure your prints are approved, check that:
• Don’t remove the tray too soon.
• Mix the putty properly
• Make sure the entire print area is covered by putty
• Presses evenly across the print area
• Capture the entire tooth area with the putty, including the back molars.
• Just press once on the putty
SEND YOUR PRINTS BY MAIL
Once you receive approval for your impressions, place them in the impression kit box. Use the prepaid return shipping label to send your prints to ALIGNERCO.
SEND PHOTOS OF YOUR TEETH
You will also need to send photos of your teeth to help us create your treatment plan. To take your photos, use the cheek retractor to take the five required images.
You must get photos of:
• Front view of your clenched teeth
• Right side view
• Left side view
• Upper occlusal
• Lower occlusal
RECEIVE YOUR TREATMENT PLAN AND YOUR ALIGNERS
Once we receive your impressions in the mail, it will take approximately 10 business days before you receive your treatment plan by email. The next step is the approval of your treatment plan, and then it will take about 14-17 business days for your custom aligners to be manufactured.
Note: Do not remove your prints from the trays. If you do, no matter how good the impressions were, they will simply be useless.
