BioStar® & MiniSTAR® Techniques

Invisible Retainers

Great Lakes is proud to announce a new material for creating invisible retainers - Invisacryl Ultra. This material offers fast fabrication, uniform thickness, and consistent high quality. Is ultra clear, strong, durable, and stain resistant. BPA and phthalate free.

To fabricate an Invisible Retainer, Great Lakes also recommends 1mm Clear Splint Biocryl, 1mm Invisacryl A or 1mm Invisacryl C. Many of our doctors prefer to make their patients two sets of Invisible Retainers - one for daytime wear and one for nighttime wear. For daytime wear, Invisacryl A will be a slightly clearer material. For nighttime wear, we recommend Invisacryl C, as it is a stronger material.

While many doctors prefer a 1mm thickness, some doctors may choose a thinner material for patient comfort.

Standard Invisible Retainer

Invisible with Single-Tooth Pontic

Invisible with Multi-Tooth Pontic


Splints

Great Lakes recommends 2mm Clear Splint Biocryl for fabricating Full Coverage Splints. It bonds to acrylic and offers the consistent high quality needed for splints.

For patient comfort, and to eliminate "tight feeling" splints, we recommend using Isofolan as a spacer and performing a dual laminate process.

For doctors who want patient comfort with ease, we recommend the Durasoft Hard/Soft Dual Laminate material.

For fabricating Anterior Deprogrammers, we recommend 1.5mm Clear Splint Biocryl.

Fabricating an Occlusal Splint

Fabricating an Anterior Deprogrammer


Mouthguards

Great Lakes recommends various thicknesses of Clear and Colored Mouthguard material depending on the patient and the sport/activity.

For optimum patient protection, we recommend following our dual-laminate mouthguard fabrication technique. This can be accomplished by thermal forming one piece of material on top of another. By applying a clear layer on-top of a colored layer, decals, names, and logos can be embedded in the mouthguard while adding extra strength and protection. Many doctors find it ideal to fabricate using a 2mm+2mm or 2mm+3mm configuration.

For doctors desiring great patient protection and the ease of one-layer fabrication, we also offer Xtreme Bioplast® material. Xtreme integrates two degrees of hardness in one piece of material. A transparent, rigid, "V-shaped" section provides extra anterior protection. This material is also thicker, which may be necessary for some sports and activities.

Single & Dual Laminate Mouthguard

Mouthguard Trimming & Finishing

Using Xtreme Mouthguard Material

One-Step Mouthguard

Multi-Colored Mouthguard

Mouthguard with Strap

Mouthguard with Occlusal Indexing

Mouthguard Over Brackets


Bleaching/Fluoride Trays

Great Lakes recommends 1mm Clear Mouthguard Material for fabricating bleaching or fluoride trays. This material offers fast fabrication, uniform thickness, and consistent high quality at a great price.

Bleaching / Fluoride Tray


Retainers

Great Lakes recommends 2mm Biocryl for fabricating Hawley style retainers on the upper arch, and 3mm Biocryl for the lower arch. Biocryl comes in various colors, shapes, and patterns that appeal to most patients.

Hawley retainers with pontics, expansion screws, springs, and anterior bite plates can also be fabricated with this material. See the Videos & Techniques on this page for further instructions.

Hawley Retainer

Hawley Retainer with a Pontic

Hawley Retainer with a Spring

Hawley Retainer with an Expansion Screw

Hawley Retainer with an Anterior Bite Plate


Model Duplication

Great Lakes recommends 3mm Clear Mouthguard material for Model Duplication. The pressure molding process is an economical technique to obtain detailed accuracy that is impossible to duplicate with a vacuum machine. Colored material is not recommended because it prevents the technician from being able to visually confirm that the entire anatomy has been completely filled in.

Great Lakes also recommends the use of a vibrating platform to remove bubbles from the stone or plaster.

Model Duplication


Indirect Bonding Tray

Great Lakes recommends a dual-tray Indirect Bonding technique that utilizes 1mm/2mm Clear Mouthguard material to hold the brackets with a 1mm/1.5mm Clear Splint Biocryl stabilizing layer over it.

Indirect Bonding Tray

Bonded Lingual Retainer


Matrix for a Temporary

Great Lakes recommends 1mm or 1.5mm Copyplast for fabricating Temporaries. In some situations, doctors may prefer 0.8mm Hardcast as it can provide a more dimensionally stable form.

Matrix for a Temporary


Custom Surgical Tray

Great Lakes Recommends Blue Heavy Weight material for fabricating custom trays. Clear Tray Handles can be added to these devices.

Custom Impression Tray

Surgical Guide