This course will provide dental assistants with additional knowledge and skills in the taking of preliminary alginate dental impressions to enable improved techniques and clinical outcomes.

The course will include content on:

• Materials properties and handling, types of materials, storage, manipulation and clinical use
• Selection of appropriate impression trays related to individual patient requirements and ensuring accuracy and stability of impressions
• Recognition of anatomical landmarks and reproduction of required detail with alginate impressions
• Techniques with maxillary and mandibular alginate impressions, patient and operator positioning, communication with patients
• Aspects of patient consent and confidentiality, working with other dental practitioners, and workplace health and safety requirements
• Ensuring patient comfort, reducing patient anxiety and prevention of gagging
• Recognising and avoiding errors in alginate impressions
• Assessing basic occlusion and occlusal registration techniques
• Disinfection, stability and storage of alginate impressions
• Manipulation and use of dental plaster and dental stone
• Trimming and finishing of dental casts
• Information and instruction on the construction of medicament trays.

Clinical techniques and procedures will be demonstrated and participants will work in groups and will have the opportunity to take upper and lower alginate impressions on each other during the course, and then pour up diagnostic study models in the laboratory. Information and instruction will also be provided on the construction of custom fabricated medicament trays and bleaching trays.

How does this course apply to you?

• Dental assistants

This course will enable dental assistants to work with dental practitioners and take alginate impressions when directed in the clinical environment and, where appropriate, construct study models and medicament trays.

Venue>UQ School of Dentistry, Brisbane