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Acceptable time from earmold impression to sending them in

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Hi there,

It’s been a while. But I’m glad that everyone is still active here.

I have a question regarding our daughters new earmold for both her . She is almost three now, and we recently moved to another state, hence new audiologist.
We needed new earmolds for our daughter and the impression were taken. I was told that we would have them back within 2 weeks, but after 3 weeks not hearing anything I called in and heard that the impression were not sent in immediately, but 10 days after the impression day!
That sounds a very long time for me to have the impressions laying around, I’m worried that this can affect the end product? Should I request new impressions just based on that or should I accept it if they seem to fit. We’re going back for them in 2 days.
Please advice, thank you so much!

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My audi said 10 days when my impressions were taken. The earmolds arrived in one week from Starkey. I was told that my impressions were kept at Starkey for a year. After that they would require new impressions if I had to have one remade. So it appears that the impression material is stable for quite a while.

If the impressions were made with a silicone-based material they can actually sit for 6 months or longer and retain their shape. With a child that small, anything beyond 3 or 4 months I’d do a new impression because they could have grown and therefore the impression may not be accurate any longer. Most manufacturers don’t keep actual impressions anymore. When they get the impression they make a digital 3D scan and dispose the actual impression but keep the digital file. Anything over 8 months and I’d get a new impression though.

10 days is fine.

Sometimes things can happen to cause delays. They’re usually not preventable, occasionally they are the result of human error. I bet you hear something in the next couple days. :slight_smile:

Thank you everyone for replying!
The earmolds that came back were too small, so we had to redo it anyways.
Hopefully they’ll be good a good fit now when we get them.

It’s not uncommon to have to have molds remade (or adjusted) when they come in. The fit is critical, and just a millimeter here or there can do it. The molding process itself (in terms of measuring the ear canal) has gotten better over the years, but it’s still error-prone. If the molds aren’t right and you’re lucky, they’re a tiny bit too big, not small, and the audiologist can adjust it on the spot with a grinding wheel or other tool. But sometimes that can’t be done, either, depending on the material or the audiologist. If they’re too small, they have to try again. The failure rate is priced into the molds–they know there’s a fair chance you’ll need a retry. As for waiting a week to send them out, you’d have to know the reason why to make the right judgment call, and everyone goofs sometimes, but it’s possibly inconsiderate in the sense of not treating customers as they would want to be treated.

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