How Intraoral Scanners Are Used in Full-Arch Workflows

In contrast to conventional methods, which provide only indirect digitalization of the full dental arch, modern intraoral scanners provide direct digitalization of the full arch through a direct scan of the patient’s mouth cavity. This can often be performed in a single scan, and modern dental scanners can often capture the scan in under a minute, and some in under half a minute.

In addition to being fast, modern digital intraoral scanners are also noninvasive, can capture clear 3D views of the full dental arch, and do not use ionizing radiation, making them potentially safer for both practitioners and patients. Also, since they don’t use physical impressioning media, less storage space is required to catalog a patient’s anatomy.

These are just a few of the ways intraoral scanners stand to benefit dentists that adopt them. Here are some of the ways they’re used in full-arch workflows.

Photogrammetry

Dental photogrammetry, which analyzes photographs and electromagnetic radiation patterns to pinpoint extremely precise 3D coordinates, is often used for implant planning and treatment. However, it is highly expensive and still leans on the data captured by an intraoral scanner. Moreover, photogrammetry alone cannot capture a true 3D rendering of the full dental arch.

This is where intraoral scanning becomes indispensable, as it can be used to supplement the data captured using photogrammetry, offering a comprehensive, 3D impression of the patient’s mouth, inclusive of hard and soft tissues.

Surgical Guides

The use of a digital dental scanner to capture thoroughly detailed 3D images of a patient’s mouth for the creation of surgical guides is another of its strongest use cases. The 3D scans of a patient’s full arch captured by an intraoral scanner can be compared with CBCT scans for the purposes of creating guides for prosthesis and restoration as well as for implant planning.

One of the great things about the STL files captured by intraoral scanners and the DICOM files captured by CBCT machines is that they can be aligned and merged for cross-referential comparison of the patient’s teeth, bone structure, and soft tissues. This enables extremely detailed planning through triangulation of the two data sets.

IO Scanning

Intraoral scanners, through the highly detailed 3D dimensional full arch scans they capture, are used for a wide variety of applications in dentistry, orthodontics, and as has been stated, surgical planning. In restorative dentistry, 3D scans can be used to help crease dental crowns, bridges, veneers, inlays and onlays, and in implant planning.

IO scanning is also indispensable for orthodontic treatment planning and can be used to create clear aligners; iTero scanners, specifically, are often used to capture scans used to make clear aligners, such as Invisalign aligners.

Milling

In dentistry, the process of milling, which utilizes a small dental milling machine guided by a CAD/CAM system, requires extreme precision and an accurate model of the patient’s anatomy in order to process dental prosthetics such as fittings and crowns. Much as in the case of implant dentistry, utilizing milling for prosthesis requires extremely detailed three-dimensional imagery that accurately depicts the patient’s anatomy, specifically with respect to spatial relations. Intraoral scanners produce images that show the requisite details to create dental prosthetics that “fit” properly without impeding the patient’s dentition.

3D Printing Arches

The use of 3D printing has revolutionized various industries and the medical field is no exception. Both dentists and orthodontists stand to benefit from the use of 3D printing technology to transform how they treat patients, as well as their workflows.

In these fields, specifically, the data captured by a 3D intraoral scan can be leveraged to create files used to print aligners and retainers. In the case that a physical model of the patient’s full dental arch is deemed necessary, an intraoral scan’s files can be used to print a full model of the dentition for reference as well.

Placement

Intraoral scanners can also be invaluable with respect to implant placement. Because an intraoral scan can capture the full dental arch in great detail, showing accurate three-dimensional spatial relationships within the patient’s mouth, it can be used to identify the proper location for implant placement. Dental CBCT can also be used as a supplementary guide to help identify the ideal location for dental implant planning by identifying hard and soft tissues that underlie the patient’s surface anatomy.

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