With the innovations, conventional practices are getting replaced by advanced techniques which are cost-effective and rapid in terms of time and user-friendly for the dental fraternity. The intra-oral scanner is also one of the kinds of these innovations. It is an aiding tool for digitalizing diagnostic records in dentistry. An intra-oral scanner is a device used to capture a direct optical impression of the oral cavity, also known as virtual impressions.
The intra-oral scanning system has three components; hardware i.e. camera which projects light (white, blue, or red) from the sensors on the targeted area which is processed by a computer with scanning software that records the reflection of the light creating a virtual image of the targeted area in form of 3D models. The available format in which these 3D impressions are stored and transferred are open STL (Standard Tessellation Language) files or Locked STL files other than these formats PLY (polygon) file format is also used in some of the software. The most widely used intra-oral scanners are of iTero, 3 Shape TRIOs, Planmeca Emerald, and CS 3600 companies.
These digital scans have helped resolve the issues associated with limited storage capacities available in the storerooms of dental laboratories as now millions of impression records can now be kept safe for the longest time in a small machine. It also helped in reducing the potential errors of conventional impression-taking techniques such as contraction of impression material or expansion of dental stone after pouring. Physical damage such as chipping off the incisal edges or broken tooth structures is also obviated. It has reduced the number of visits of the patient, chair-side time, and transportation as we can manage all of these at once, when a doctor records the impression of the patient it can be shared with the technician in real-time, and he after assessing can immediately respond if the records are workable or not, and if they are not workable the scans can be taken right then saving another visit of the patient. Trueness and precision of the taken scans have helped in the high-quality services provided to the patient. This technique is also preferred in case of patients that have Gag Reflex, another positive thing is that the patient does not have to keep his/her mouth open till the material is all set to be taken out of the oral cavity, as we can take short breaks during the scanning procedure, which is found to be of great help in patients having Temporomandibular joint problems. The patient does not have to bear the undesired smell or taste of the impression material anymore. This also helps in controlling the risk of cross-contamination.
Although, intra-oral scanning is in use worldwide still many improvements are required to be incorporated, for instance, the emitted light has a reflective effect when exposed to restorations which leads to distortion of the impressions. Soft tissue capturing is still under processing.
The intra-oral scans are used in making prostheses such as crowns and bridges, planning Implant surgeries as it helps in making surgical stents, and in orthodontics for planning comprehensive treatment planning and making aligners. It can be used for planning procedures related to esthetic concerns as it has a feature of color mapping that helps in selecting the shades.
In conclusion, even though it has become part of dental practice, worldwide and is facing many limitations, it has shown that the incorporation of this technique has improved the quality of provided services such as orthodontics, restorative, and prosthetics.
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