One tip to reduce gagging in maxillary impressions

 There are a few tips that I have learned over the years to reduce gagging during impressions but a common one that I use is to use a mandibular impression tray for the upper impression. This is useful when you just need an impression of the teeth and don't care about capturing the palate in your impression. The idea is that there is less impression material in the tray compared to a maxillary tray and when the excess spills over the tray edge when it is seated it doesn't shoot directly to the back of the tongue. I tray to use a fairly stiff mix for these impressions and when the excess runs over at the palatal aspect, I will use my finger to pull it fowards towards the incisors. This keeps it off the tongue and also locks the impression more firmly onto the tray.

You do have to be aware that the lingual flange of lower trays are usually quite exaggerated so overseating the tray will hit onto the palate. This can help as it can be a positive seat to stop the tray overseating andpreventing the teeth from contacting the tray however if you seat the tray too firmly it can be uncomfortable for the patient.