Why I Use… TrollFoil

Everybody has patients in their office who think they know more than the doctor. We recently saw someone who was hitting really heavy on her brand-new porcelain crowns. The TrollFoil markings showed it was one tooth, but she insisted she was hitting on the tooth behind it.

The doctor explained that we didn’t want to unnecessarily remove porcelain from a new restoration, and that we had to trust the marks. While she wasn’t happy we didn’t adjust the tooth she wanted us to, she came back to the office 3 days later and said, “I owe you an apology.”

A True Time-Saver

Before using TrollFoil, we had to use 2 sets of articulating paper forceps so we could mark the right and left sides at the same time. We’d first put a paper towel in the forceps and ask patients to bite down, because any saliva on the teeth could result in falsified markings. TrollFoil is double-sided and marks through saliva, which no other product can do. That’s a big deal!

Not having to dry the teeth saves time—about 5 minutes per appointment—and every minute counts in the operatory. You also don’t need to fumble with trying to insert it into a holder; TrollFoil comes on its own frame. That makes the process seamless, especially for multiple restorations. It comes in an 8-micron and a super-thin 4.5-micron thickness, and because it has a protective cover at the grip, you won’t get ink on your gloves when you pick it up.

For us, premature occlusion is really important, especially after delivering crowns, fillings, or dentures. It can be tough to get defined markings on provisional materials and dentures, and some doctors will switch to thicker paper in these cases because they're worried about the marks and don't want to reduce too much. That won’t happen with TrollFoil. It’s very precise; I can place it multiple times to check for pressure spots, and it's always accurate.

The End of Overadjusting

Ultimately, TrollFoil provides an evidence-based guide to ensure you’re not adjusting too much. The markings also help us communicate treatment to patients, especially if they’re not feeling minor occlusal discrepancies or think their discomfort is coming from another tooth. Showing them the markings increases patient confidence in us.