Digital Dental Impressions

Dental impressions are bad enough to make anyone avoid the dentist. If you’ve ever needed a crown, bridge, or retainer, then you’ve experienced the discomfort that comes while waiting for the gooey, putty-like material (alginate) to set for a dental impression. Thankfully, there are new ways to obtain dental impressions using digital scans of your mouth.

Digital impressions create accurate virtual representations of your teeth and bite by taking a series of digital photographs. The resulting virtual model of your mouth allows your dentist or dental specialist to determine the best plan of care for you.

Getting digital impressions is not invasive and takes little time. First, the teeth are dusted with titanium dioxide powder. Then, an intraoral wand scans the teeth and mouth. If you are getting restorations, the scans will be sent to the lab where the bridge, veneer, crown, or oral appliance will be made.

Digital impressions mean: