At the British Dental Conference and Dentistry Show, Professor Andrew Keeling presented “Direct or indirect digital impressions – which is best?” He provided an evidence-based update on the strengths and weaknesses of different methods of impression taking and suggesting the preferred method based on the clinical scenario.
Andrew began by discussing the pros and cons of traditional vs digital impressions. Traditional impressions record the surface continuously and digital only record dots at certain points, often filling in the gaps using AI interpretation.
When comparing indirect scanners to intraoral scanners, Andrew commented “Resolution is one of the most unresearched areas of dentistry” because of the difficulty associated with doing so and went on to discuss the clinical relevance of scan resolution.
Until recently, lab scanners achieved higher scan resolution compared to intraoral scanners, but variability still exists. The use of lower resolution scans can lead to poorer fitting restorations. Research has shown that in restorations with marginal gaps larger than 30 µm, caries is more likely to develop and this accelerates the further above 30 µm the gaps become. Andrew’s conclusion was that acceptable clinical outcomes are possible with either impression technique. In some use cases (clear aligners for example) an IOS will provide sufficient resolution and may be easier to utilise than a physical impression, in others where greater precision is needed, a silicone impression which is then digitised with a high resolution scanner will be required to optimise outcomes.
Dental impressions are the basis of any prosthodontic workflow, the foundation of the design and fabrication process. In order for technicians and clinicians to provide patients with precise dental restorations, it’s essential that the techniques they use work best for them.
The team at Mimetrik have developed the world’s only six degrees of freedom scanner, the Cubit360, which enables fast and intuitive complete scan capture at high resolution. It facilitates hand-held scanning for continuous, real-time scanning with no mechanical delays or need for cumbersome metal mounting frames. This means that bite scans, for example, can be completed in five seconds or less. For more information about Mimetrik, please visit https://mimetrik.tech/
