Wax Impressions
Upper Dental Impression
For wax-based impressions, the wax material was first warmed and softened before being loaded onto the dental cup. (9) For partial upper dentures, the cup (as pictured here) was inserted into the patient mouth’s and was pressed upward against the patient’s upper jaw. The dentist firmely applied pressure at different parts of the upper mouth to ensure that the impression reached the entirety of the upper jaw. (9) The dentist let the wax harden, a process that was hastened by applying a napkin dipped in cold water to the dental cup in the mouth. (10) Then, the dental cup was carefully removed. This entire procedure was repeated until a perfect impression was obtained. (9)
The process for obtaining impressions for full upper dentures in wax had a few significant differences. For one, a different kind of dental cup was used as visible in the following figure. Moreover, to prevent gum agitation, the wax was made even softer if teeth were recently extracted. Then, the cup was filled with the wax and pressed against the patient’s upper jaw with sufficient pressure. Obtaining perfect impressions for complete upper dentures was sometimes difficult using wax because the wax did not reach all the edges of the jaw and roll off the edges of the dental cup, so plaster was preferable. (9) (10)
Lower Dental Impression
The procedure for obtaining impressions of the lower jaw likewise required softened wax to be filled in a dental cup. (9) However, obtaining these impressions necessitated a different kind of dental cup as shown here, on the left. Once prepared, the dentist inserted the dental cup into the patient’s mouth and steadily applied pressure by pressing downwards on the edges of the dental cup on top of the lower jaw. (9)