What Are Digital Dental Impressions?

Many of my patients associate dental impressions with a metal mold and goopy paste. If this is how you view dental impressions, you’ll be excited to hear about digital dental impressions. 

Genesis Dental recently invested in the Trios 5 scanner featuring cutting-edge digital impression technology. 

This innovative technology will completely transform how you view impressions, and this blog will explain why. Here, I’ll cover more about the cutting-edge technology behind the Trios 5 scanner and the many advantages of digital dental impressions. 

 

Understanding Digital Dental Impressions

What Are Digital Dental Impressions? 

Digital dental impressions use an intra-oral scanner to create detailed 3D scans of teeth and gums. This advanced scanning technology replaces the messy putty and trays involved with traditional analogue impressions.

Digital dental impressions offer several advantages compared to traditional impressions, including comfort, no gag reflex, and improved accuracy. The Trios 5 Scanner enables digital smile design, tooth shade matching, and the ability to accurately monitor changes to the teeth or gums. 

 

How Does the Trios 5 Digital Scanner Work?

Digital dental impressions utilise intraoral scanners that create precise, fast 3D teeth models. 

Here is a look at the process of digital dental impressions: 

• Initial Scan: The Trios 5 scanner’s intraoral wand is used to scan the teeth quickly and comfortably. The wand features optical sensors and a camera to capture highly accurate images. The images are compiled into a 3D digital replica. 
• Immediate Adjustments: This 3D scan is instantly generated, allowing for immediate adjustments if needed. This eliminates the need for additional impressions, materials, or appointments. 
• Seamless Integration with Dental Labs: The 3D scans are then delivered electronically to a dental lab. This process is instant, eliminating delays due to transit time and streamlining the treatment process. 

 

Benefits of Digital Dental Impressions

Enhanced Comfort 

The biggest advantage of digital dental impressions is the significant improvement in patient comfort. The comfort-focused design of the Trios 5 is an ideal option for patients with a sensitive gag reflex or dental anxiety.

Digital dental impressions eliminate the need for patients to deal with dental putty and uncomfortable trays. This can reduce dental anxiety and ensure the most comfortable treatment experience possible.

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Reduced Treatment Time

The Trios 5 Scanner captures precise images, reducing the need for adjustments or retakes. Because I can view the 3-D model created by the digital impression immediately, I can notice right away if a section needs to be rescanned. 

This eliminates the risk of needing to schedule a different appointment to re-do the scan. This ensures accurate treatment in as little time as possible. 

The actual digital scanning process is also faster than the steps involved in taking traditional dental impressions. 

 

Improved Accuracy

Digital impressions offer exceptional accuracy, minimising the risk of errors and additional chair time. 

The enhanced comfort of digital impressions also translates to improved accuracy. A patient with a sensitive gag reflex may shift around during traditional dental impressions, leading to inaccuracies. 

 

Faster Turnaround and Streamlined Workflow

Digital impressions streamline workflow in several ways, including: 

• Scanned impressions can be electronically shared with other labs instantly
• Impressions can be stored digitally rather than needing to store bulky physical models
• Treatment plans can be easily shared between dental labs and dental practices, enabling efficient collaboration 
• Digital impressions can easily be accessed when ordering replacement mouthguards or splints 
• Seamless integration with computer-aided manufacturing/computer-aided design technology (CAD/CAM)
• Dental labs can use the precise impressions to quickly and accurately design dental restorations, including aligners, bridges, crowns, and veneers 
• Eliminates the risk of physical impressions being delayed or damaged during transit
• Seamless integration with dental labs for efficient processing

 

Shade Matching and Aesthetic Precision

The Trios 5 can assess and match tooth shades exactly, ensuring natural-looking restorations. This results in better aesthetic outcomes and increased patient satisfaction. 

 

How Long Do Dental Impressions Take? 

Time Comparison – Digital vs Traditional Impressions

Patients often wonder, “How long do dental impressions take​?”. For digital dental impressions, the answer is just a few minutes in most cases! 

The scanning process of the Trios 5 is incredibly fast, taking only a few minutes. This is noticeably faster than the substantial time required by traditional impressions. 

Once traditional impressions are set, they must be sent to a dental laboratory. Next, a lab technician turns the impression into a mould. This process is time consuming, often taking weeks. 

 

Factors Influencing Timing

Digital impressions involve an intra-oral scanner that typically only takes a few minutes. With the ability to immediately review the scan, adjustments can be made right away. This makes for a highly accurate, streamlined process.  

Although the Trios 5 Digital scanner is fast and accurate, treatment timing is affected by case complexity. Cases involving a high level of complexity or detail may require longer treatment times. 

 

What Is Digital Smile Design? 

Visualising Your Smile with Digital Smile Design

The Trios 5 enables digital smile design mock-ups for treatments like veneers and orthodontics. This allows the patient to visualise what their results will look like before committing to treatment.

 

Enhancing Treatment Confidence

The ability to visualise the results with a digital smile mock-up offers benefits such as:

• Visualising results before committing to treatment 
• Patient involvement in the design process
• Enhanced patient trust and clarity about the outcome
• Realistic expectations

 

Monitoring Tooth Changes Over Time

Tracking Bruxism and Wear Patterns

The Trios 5 allows scans to be taken at scheduled intervals, typically every 1 to 2 years. This application is ideal for accurately monitoring the tooth loss and wear patterns caused by bruxism. 

This ensures early treatment of any issues that arise, decreasing the risk of costly, complicated procedures.  

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Early Detection for Preventative Care

Dental impressions help dentists detect and address issues early, reducing the risk of extensive treatments later. By incorporating 3D scans as part of your general checkups, I can identify potential issues early. 

Digital dental scans can identify the early signs of: 

• Gum disease
• Misalignment
• Gum recession
• Decay

Learn more about the other benefits of dental checkups here: The Importance of Regular Dental Checkups.

 

Are Digital Dental Impressions Right for You?

Choosing between digital and physical dental impressions will depend on your dentist’s recommendations and your needs and preferences.  

Ideal candidates for digital dental impressions with the Trios 5 Scanner include: 

• Individuals with a sensitive gag reflex
• Individuals with dental anxiety
• Patients who want the fastest, most efficient treatment
• Patients who want to visualise their results

Common treatments that benefit from the Trios 5 scanner include:

• Crowns
• Bridges
• Veneers
• Orthodontics
• Preventative monitoring
• Dental implants

 

Precise, Comfortable Dental Impressions with Genesis Dental

Digital dental impressions have transformed modern dentistry and we are excited to be early adopters of this cutting-edge technology. The Trios 5 scanner replaces metal trays and messy dental putty with comfortable, cutting-edge digital technology. 

At Genesis Dental, our team is committed to providing advanced, comfortable, and precise dental care. Knowing how much comfort digital impressions would offer our patients, we were excited to invest in the Trios 5 digital scanner. 

Ready to experience the comfort and benefits of digital dental impressions? Contact Genesis Dental today to schedule your consultation!