,With so many impression material products on the market, how do you know what to use and what features to look for? One doctor discusses why Silginat is his choice., ,When choosing an impression material for his office over a decade ago, Dr. Paul Goodman had two criteria in mind: Workflow and patient experience. “Using this impression material over
alginate is what I call a gateway decision to reducing stress,” he said. “That means it’s a decision that is based on alleviating stress on the team and patients.” Getting the initial impression done correctly the first time would benefit the patient, and the ability to repour it multiple times is a huge benefit. Since Silginat was able to accomplish those goals then and now, it is among Dr. Goodman’s favorite dental products., ,Silginat is a high-precision, alginate alternative, medium-bodied viscosity (VPS) impression material. It offers a low tear resistance so as not to disturb restorations or orthodontic appliances. The material is used for making impressions for anatomical models, the construction of night guards and bleaching trays, surgical guides for implant dentistry, and preliminary denture impressions. Silginat is highly thixotropic and flows properly under pressure. It offers a short intraoral setting time of 90 seconds for faster workflows. Its anatomical impression is prepared in just 3 minutes. The shore hardness A 45 offers easy releasing. To help make the patient experience even better, Silginat is available in a strawberry flavor., ,When considering products for his practice, Dr. Goodman—a practicing general dentist and managing partner of a group practice, and the founder of the Dental Nachos community—looks for systems that will boost efficiencies. “For me, this is about recommending an alternative versus an alginate material. Alginate is a problematic material that can cause a tremendous amount of annoyance for the dentist, patient, and team.” If you take the impression using an alginate, you must pour up the model immediately. If you forget and it dries up, the impression is rendered useless, or if you pour and everything is fine but the lab breaks the model, then, in either scenario, you must inconvenience the patient to come back in to retake the impression. This also costs you money and time,” he said., ,Why did he chose Silginat for his office over a decade ago? “I’m committed to the cause of not annoying my patients by avoiding creating obstacles in my daily dental life,” he said. He likened taking impressions to arts and crafts, and coined the term ‘dentist-ing’ to describe the process. “Dentist-ing is doing full contact arts and crafts on people who really don’t want to be there,” he said. “So, anything to make the process less stressful and more pleasant for us in the operatory is a huge win for all.”, ,From a workflow process in his office, using Silginat allows for the impression to be taken and then sent out to the lab. With multiple doctors and multiple operatories in daily use at his practice, it wasn’t an efficient workflow to have the dental assistants spending time pouring models. Silginat allows him to be confident in the accuracy of the impression, and because the material also has a high dimensional stability, the model impression can be kept for weeks and poured multiple times if needed. Taking multiple anatomical impressions is no longer necessary., ,Silginat can be used in both analog and digital workflows. Once the impression is taken, the mold can be poured in the office or sent to the doctor’s preferred lab. The impression can also be digitally scanned if a practice has scanners available. Dr. Goodman said that scanning isn’t in his office workflow yet, but is “a great option to have” as well., ,Recently Kettenbach, the makers of Silginat, revamped the delivery method with a newly designed 50 ml cartridge dispensing system. This economical system offers less waste and a clean, simple, and safe application for reproducible results that are standardized and hygienic. In addition, the new cartridges are compatible with all common dispensing guns, so there’s no need to purchase additional equipment., ,In Dr. Goodman’s office, one of the main benefits his team appreciates is that Silginat doesn’t have to be poured right away and that it can be poured multiple times, should that be needed due to any errors in the process, including model breakage. His patients tolerate the product very well. “Silginat alginate alternative versus alginate? No contest,” Dr. Goodman said. “Silginat will save you money. It will save you stress. It will save you time. From my experience, the benefits of using Silginat are improved patient service, improved clinical outcomes, and cost savings.” Disclosure: Kettenbach is a sponsor of Dr. Paul Goodman and Dental Nachos
