Dental impression making is the process of creating a negative form of the teeth and oral tissues, into which gypsum or other die materials can be processed to create working analogues. Contemporary dentistry generates new information every year and digital dentistry is becoming established and influential. Although dentists should stay abreast of new technologies, some of the conventional materials and time-tested techniques remain widely used. It is important to review the impression-making process to ensure that practitioners have up-to-date information about how to safely and effectively capture the exact form of the oral tissues to provide optimal patient management.