How good are our impressions? An audit of alginate impression quality in the production of removable prostheses.

UNLABELLED: Impressions are taken regularly in practice giving vital information to the dental laboratory, but are there quality assurance systems in place to make sure that they are up to a sufficient standard? As dental professionals we have to appreciate that dental technicians can only work with the information given to them. This makes the skill of taking a good impression vital in order for us as clinicians to provide prostheses of good quality. This paper outlines an audit of alginate impressions and their quality in the making of removable prostheses.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: To record the quality of impression taking, and how one's own ability to critique an impression may differ from that of our colleagues.