An intraoral scanner replaces the tray full of impression material with a small camera. Here is what changes for the patient and where each method still fits.
With a digital impression, no tray filled with putty goes into your mouth. Instead a small camera, about the size of a thick pen, is guided over the teeth and builds a three dimensional model on screen within seconds. A traditional impression works the other way around: a soft material sets inside a tray, the negative copy is removed, and a plaster model is poured from it. Both routes end at the same place, a model the restoration will be built on.
What the appointment feels like
Two things bother people most about conventional impressions: the pressure as material spreads toward the palate, and having to keep the mouth closed until it sets. Scanning removes both. The mouth stays open, the scan can be paused at any moment, and nothing has a taste or a smell. For anyone with a strong gag reflex this alone changes the experience.
Is one of them more accurate?
For single crowns and short bridges, scanners produce models that are accurate enough for daily clinical work, and they skip the errors that can creep in while material shrinks or plaster is poured. Long full arch records and completely edentulous jaws are a different story, because gum tissue moves under pressure. There, many dentists still use a conventional impression or a combination of both.
Where digital scanning is used most
- Crowns, bridges and veneers, where the design goes straight to the milling unit
- Clear aligner treatment, where the whole series is produced from the scan file
- Night guards and sports guards
- Implant planning together with a three dimensional radiograph
- Follow up records that show wear or gum recession over time
What still needs care
A scanner only records what it can see. The tooth surface has to be clean and dry, bleeding has to be controlled, and if the preparation runs below the gum line the dentist first has to expose that margin. The camera also has to travel in a consistent pattern, otherwise the software stitches the images badly. Good scanning takes as much skill as a good conventional impression.
After the impression
The file goes to the laboratory, the framework is designed on screen and production starts. A temporary crown is fitted meanwhile. At the try in visit, fit, contact points and shade are checked. Because the scan is stored, small corrections usually do not require a new impression at all. For removable work such as a full denture, your dentist may still choose the conventional route, and that is a decision made after examining the tissue, not a matter of old versus new.
