Dr. Phil Elmo of Dublin, Ohio, was looking to make 45 mouth guards for his son’s lacrosse team. “Our practice wanted to help provide the oral protection they need for such a physical sport,” he said.
But Elmo runs a busy prosthodontic practice, and he didn’t have time to create the guards the way he had in the past—by making (in this case) 45 individual alginate impressions, pouring 45 accurate stone models, and then grinding and shipping 45 stone models to the lab.
“We simply needed a better solution,” he said.
That solution came in the form of Kettenbach Silginat Strawberry alginate alternative polyvinyl siloxane (PVS) impression material. Silginat combines the benefits of alignate with that of A-silicones, creating a result that has low tear resistance and high dimensional stability.
Elmo said he found that Silginat Strawberry had “similar handling characteristics to alginate, but after we made the impression, it set up stable and accurate indefinitely as it is a PVS chemistry,” Elmo said.
The impression process suddenly became much simpler, thanks to Silginat Strawberry.
“Once we disinfected all 45 of the Silginat Strawberry impressions we made of the lacrosse team, all we had to do was ship them off to the lab and let them pour and trim the models,” he said. “I was confident the lab in California received a very accurate impression that would not distort during shipping.”
The result? Elmo and the lacrosse team were not disappointed. “We seamlessly delivered all 45 of the mouth guards to the lacrosse players in a timely manner, and they loved the fit and feel. Additionally, I know the parents and coaching staff also felt a sigh of relief the players had proper protection from head to toe.”
Elmo said the new process was far more efficient.
“Not only did we save a massive amount of time from not having to pour up, trim, and carefully pack the cast in our office, but we also saved a ton of money by going direct with Kettenbach for a wonderful impression material in the Silginat Strawberry,” he said.
Plus, now the lacrosse team has a dentist they know and trust. “We now also proudly treat some of those parents at our practice,” Elmo said “I highly recommend using the Kettenbach Silginat Strawberry impression material for oral appliances like sport mouth guards.”
To learn more about Silginat Strawberry, visit kettenbachusa.com.