You’ve always taken excellent care of your teeth; however, even those who are diligent in their oral hygiene can have imperfections or damage in their smile. You may require a restoration like a dental crown, veneer, bridge, or denture to get your smile back to its former glory. If your dentist doesn’t take advantage of a digital impression system in their practice, you may be stuck with traditional impressions. Is that really a bad thing? Do digital impressions really make a difference? Read on to find out!
How Do Traditional Impressions Work?
If you’ve never had a restoration placed before, you may not be familiar with the more traditional method of getting impressions. Putty-like material is put into a tray and pressed onto the upper and/or lower arch. The dental assistant holds the tray in place for two to five minutes waiting for the putty to solidify and then slowly separates the impression material from your teeth. The indentations are then shipped to a dental lab where they create a lifelike mold from the impressions in order to make your restoration fit your unique mouth.
What’s Wrong with Traditional Dental Impressions?
This process is not only time consuming and often uncomfortable for the patient, but it is also extremely difficult to tell if the impressions have been collected correctly. Most of the time, even dental professionals can’t tell if a mistake was made until after the impressions have been sent to the dental lab and a mold has been created of the patient’s mouth. At that point, the patient must be called back into the office to redo the impressions.
In other situations, the error may not be detected until after the restoration has already been fabricated. The patient comes in to have their restoration placed, and it doesn’t fit accurately even with minor adjustments from the dentist on site. This means the restoration must be returned to the lab for additional work.
How Do Digital Impressions Work?
Instead of using putty, digital impressions entail a more streamlined process. A small device, which easily fits inside the mouth, digitally measures and scans the oral structures within a couple of minutes, and the scans are shown on the computer screen for evaluation before they are submitted to the dental lab. The dental lab then uses these scans to create accurate, properly fitting restorations.
How Are Digital Impressions Beneficial?
In addition to being much faster than traditional impressions, digital impression systems have many advantages over the old-fashioned way. Primarily, the process tends to be more comfortable for patients and reduces the likelihood of human error in collecting the impressions and in creating the restoration, which increases the odds of a perfect fit the first time.
Ultimately, digital impressions can make a significant difference when it comes to your restoration and your experience in the dental chair. It’s worth visiting a dentist who utilizes this technology to provide a better fit in every way!
About the Practice
At Beach Dental, Dr. Jason Parli and Dr. Alexis Gersten use digital impressions when providing custom restorations for patients. Each has years of clinical experience and advanced training, and they dedicate significant time for continuing education to learn about the most innovative technology in dentistry. If you would like to learn more about the digital impression system they use, you can contact Beach Dental through their website or by calling 631-325-0731.