Patient Education:
Toothprints
As a parent, one of your greatest fears is that your child might get lost, or WORSE!!, be abducted. If such a situation were to occur, your prompt response-- with photographs and other concrete means for tracking your child or other means of identification- is paramount. Toothprints was developed as a way of safeguarding your child or even an adult loved one.
Like fingerprints, dental imprints are unique to every person, so bite impressions can serve as an accurate means of identification. Dental X-rays have historically been the primary basis for dental identification. Toothprints is important now because the successful fight against tooth decay have left many children with no cavities and, thus, no dental records. An unrinsed toothprints also captures saliva, which is a powerful source of our scent, making toothprints effective for scent-dog tracking. The saliva captured on the Toothprints can also serve as a source of the child's DNA.
What is Toothprints?
Toothprints is a patented arch-shaped thermoplastic wafer. When your child bites into the warmed softened wafer, it records individual tooth characteristics, tooth position within the arch and the upper and lower jaw relationship-all-important pertinent information for identification. You'll then write your child's name on the zippered plastic bag provided and keep it at home in a safe place.
How often should Toothprints be updated?
Most dentists recommend that you take the first Toothprints at age 3 (or after all the baby teeth have come in), repeating it again at age 7 or 8 (after the upper and lower four front teeth and the first permanent molars have come in) and again at age 12 or 13 (after all permanent molars, excluding the third molars, have come in).