My Bite Registration Material of Choice
Philip Cooke, Purton Dental Practice, explains why Alminax Rite Bite is his bite registration material of choice.
Despite the millions of pounds spent every year by dental manufacturers researching and developing, marketing and selling the latest developments in high quality impression materials, luting cements, crown and bridge materials, and technology - everything promising the most accurate fit and optimised aesthetics for the final crown and bridge restorations - bite registration remains one of the most important yet frequently neglected stages in crown and bridge work.
Providing your Technician with a correct and reliable bite registration is therefore one of the most time and cost saving factors in crown and bridge work.
There are lots of different options available to Practices looking for a reliable bite registration material, including various polyvinylsiloxane materials which deliver very dimensionally stable registrations but can be quite expensive. However there is not really any need to incur this cost because there are more cost effective but equally reliable wax based bite registration materials also available, including Kemdent’s Alminax range.
What makes Alminax the perfect wax bite registration material
To deliver a reliable and dimensionally stable wax bite registration you need a material specifically designed for the purpose. Simply warming up a piece of modelling wax, bending it into a horseshoe shape and asking the patient to bite down on it will not do.
To create an accurate and reliable wax bite registration requires a wax that enables the heat to spread uniformly throughout its volume, producing a consistency of softness so that the wax bite deforms evenly when placed within the mouth and it is bitten into. Generally materials used for bite registrations need to be stiffened or supported. If whole sheets of wax or sheets supported with metal plates are used the patients tongue can be disturbed leading to inaccurate registrations.
Investigations have shown that Alminax wax is the superior wax because it can absorb heat and soften quickly, it cools very easily and is very stable afterwards. Therefore it is the most suitable wax for bite indexes.
Alminax incorporates a conductive filler so that when it is warmed in the water bath, the heat is evenly spread throughout the thickness of the wax. Unlike conventional modelling wax which can have soft and firm parts, and does not necessarily deform evenly when it is bitten into.
Another advantage of Alminax bite registration wax is that is it thicker than normal modelling wax so it does not need to be folded in order to create a wax bite of adequate thickness. This folding frequently results in air bubbles becoming incorporated within the modelling wax bite. These air bubbles can expand and contract depending upon the temperature of the wax, resulting in distortion. What is more, if the patient happens to bite through an air bubble this results in loss of information at the contact points etcetera.
In addition, Alminax’s setting profile means that it remains robust ( stable and firm ) when removed from the mouth. This means it is harder than conventional modelling wax so it does not distort, leading to errors after it has been removed. Furthermore, it is more stable at a higher room temperature, for example within a hot Dental Laboratory, than normal modelling wax which means it is even less likely to become distorted.
Alminax bite registration wax is available in three presentations:
Alminax Wax Full Arch and Rite Bite are supplied in preformed U-shapes which mean that they do not need to be bent into shape, saving time. Compared with the simple sheet presentation, another advantage of these preshaped Alminax Wax Full Arch and Rite Bite options is that they feature a special cut away shape that allows adequate space for the tongue. Consequently there is no interference when the patient bites together, allowing the patient to bite comfortably in the correct position. The thickness of the Full Arch and Rite Bite wafers have been carefully selected too, so that they do not interfere with the soft tissues when recording the bite registration of a “normal” bite. Consequently they ensure that the plaster models do not hang on the wax when the models are articulated.
However I prefer the Rite Bite because it also incorporates a metal strip for enhanced accuracy and reliability.
Whichever option is chosen the manufacturers recommend that the wax bite is chilled in the mouth before removal in order to further reduce the risk of any hidden distortion. It should then be disinfected using an appropriate CE Marked Disinfectant ( for example Kemdent’s PracticeSafe Soak ) before it is sent to the Laboratory.
Hints and tips for success
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| The Alminax Rite Bite Wafer. | Add some unstiffened wax wafer to the area of the prepared teeth. | Soften the modified Rite Bite wafer in a warm water bath at 55°C. |
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| Trim the posterior area with scissors. Return the trimmed Rite Bite Wafer to the water bath to soften it evenly. | The Rite Bite wafer in situ. | Remove the Rite Bite wafer and cool it gently. |
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| The most crucial step, cut off the buccal and labial excess using scissors or a knife. | Cut off the posterior excess in the retromolar area. | The models correctly articulated using the trimmed Rite Bite wafer. |
Conclusion
Alminax Rite Bite is easy to handle, time saving and extremely accurate. It gives correct and reliable registrations virtually every time.
Both Dentists and Technicians find it easy to use and Technicians who’s Dentists use Alminax Rite Bite have no problems with adjustments or corrections.
Once you’ve tried it you won’t want to be without it.
