Digitization has made inroads into the domain of dental services and has simplified their workflow including the process of taking dental impressions. A digital impression system captures the intraoral scans of patients’ teeth and gums and generates a 3D model of the same. This way, dentists can make an accurate and quick diagnosis, reduce procedure time, and better connect with dental labs. Digital impressions can eliminate patients’ discomfort and sensitivity of using impression materials. Further, since the 3D models have high clarity, accuracy, and detailing, they help dentists in making better diagnosis.
The non-invasive imaging technique of such systems is safe and caters to the treatment procedure for a host of orthodontic and restorative issues. The best thing about using a digital impression system is to get a scan instantly, which can then be sent to a dental laboratory or seen on a computer monitor for better viewing of the nooks and corners of the patients’ mouth.
What are the benefits of a digital impression system?
As opposed to the elaborate procedure followed in a conventional impression taking process, the digital counterpart is much more direct, simple, accurate, and non-invasive. The various benefits of using such a system are as follows:
- Non use of unpleasant and discomforting impression materials on patients
- Reduced waiting time for patients
- Better resolution images leading to better restorations
- Comfortable patient experience and less work for the dental team
- Elimination of material inaccuracies and impression errors
- Better patient engagement leading to greater footfalls and revenue
- Quick treatment process – whole mouth scans can be completed within 10 minutes
- Eliminates physical record and specimen keeping by storing the scans electronically for any period. Facilitates a paper-free environment
- Eco-friendly solution without the use of plastic trays and alginates
Types of digital impressions
Dentists are increasingly switching to digitizing their workflow from conventional practices. Besides deriving the above-mentioned benefits, digitization can enhance the patient experience by a mile and allow him or her to enjoy a smile. There are two types of digital impression solutions dentists can adopt and integrate into their workflow. In the first, digital scans as still pictures are captured while in the second, a digital video is captured. Being precise and safe, a digital impression system may need the teeth to be sprayed with a powder to record better and accurate images. Such a system allows the scanned images to be sent to the laboratory immediately instead of emailing the impressions prepared from sticky alginate in the conventional process. This can hasten the pace of treatment from days to a few hours and minimize the fear among patients of sitting on a dentist’s chair for long and undergoing the treatment.
A digital impression system may appear to be costly at first but the concomitant benefits more than make up for the initial investment. Since the patient spends less time on the chair, the dentist can cater to more patients and deliver everyone a better experience.
Conclusion
With digitization transforming every sphere of human activity, dental services too are not left behind. By incorporating digital impression systems and other devices, dental services are becoming more productive, accurate, efficient, and safe.
