Legally, who is authorized to take final impressions?

The dentist is the professional authorized to take final impressions due to their extensive training and legal responsibility for diagnosing and developing treatment plans. In a dental practice, the dentist has the ultimate clinical authority and ensures that all procedures carried out align with the patient's treatment needs. Taking final impressions requires a precise understanding of dental anatomy and occlusion, both of which are key components of a dentist's training.

While dental hygienists play a crucial role in patient care and dental assistants support various procedures, their scopes of practice do not typically include taking final impressions unless specifically aligned with state laws and regulations. Orthodontists, as specialists, focus on aligning teeth and jaws; they also work under the authority of the dentist when it comes to direct patient treatment tasks such as taking impressions.

Thus, the legal authority to take final impressions rests with the dentist, confirmed by their qualifications and regulatory framework governing dental practices.