---
title: Why Alliedstar Isn't Just an Orthodontic Scanner
description: Discover how Alliedstar intraoral scanners can enhance general dental practices, offering versatility for various procedures beyond orthodontics.
image: https://learn.renewdigital.com/hubfs/BLOG%20IMAGES%20(750%20%C3%97%20420%20px)%20(84)-1.png
---
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# Why Alliedstar Isn't Just an Orthodontic Scanner
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[Stephen Roberts](https://learn.renewdigital.com/blog/author/stephen-roberts)
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## What General Dentists Should Know About Bringing Alliedstar Into the Everyday Digital Workflow
If you know Alliedstar, there's a good chance you know the brand from orthodontics.
That makes sense.
Intraoral scanning has become central to modern orthodontic workflows, from digital records and treatment planning to clear aligners and retainers. Alliedstar scanners have gained attention in a segment where practices scan frequently and digital workflows are already part of everyday dentistry.
But orthodontics is only part of the story.
**Many of the same things that make an intraoral scanner useful in an orthodontic practice can make it valuable in a general dental practice.**
For GPs considering their first scanner—or looking for an alternative to higher-priced scanning platforms—it's worth taking a closer look at where [Alliedstar](https://www.renewdigital.com/brands/alliedstar/) can fit.
## General Dentists Scan Differently Than Orthodontists
An orthodontist may scan a large number of full arches for records, aligners, retainers, and treatment monitoring.
A general dentist usually has a much broader mix of procedures.
Monday's scan might be for a crown.
Tuesday's could be an implant restoration.
Wednesday might bring a night guard.
Thursday could be a clear aligner case.
That's why a scanner for general dentistry needs to be versatile.
Rather than doing one thing exceptionally well, it needs to fit into a variety of everyday workflows.
And that's where Alliedstar becomes interesting for GPs.
## 1. Crown and Bridge
For many general dentists, restorative dentistry is the most obvious place to begin scanning.
Instead of taking a conventional impression, the dentist can capture the preparation, opposing arch, and bite digitally.
The scan can then be reviewed before the patient leaves.
If an area is missing or unclear, you can address that specific area rather than discovering the problem after the impression reaches the lab.
Once the scan is complete, the digital case can be transmitted to a compatible laboratory workflow without physically packaging and shipping an impression.
For a GP purchasing a first scanner, crown and bridge alone can create frequent opportunities to use it.
## 2. Implant Restorations
Intraoral scanning can also become part of the restorative implant workflow.
Depending on the case and restorative system, digital impressions using appropriate scan bodies can provide the laboratory with the information needed to design the restoration.
For practices already placing or restoring implants, this creates another reason to have a scanner available.
And as implant dentistry becomes more digital, the scanner can increasingly connect with CBCT, treatment-planning, and laboratory workflows.
For a Renew Digital customer already using 3D imaging, intraoral scanning can be a logical next step.
**CBCT captures what's happening beneath the tissue. The intraoral scanner captures what's happening above it.**
Together, those datasets can support a much more complete digital workflow.
## 3. Night Guards and Splints
How many physical impressions does your practice take for night guards each month?
These cases can be an easy way to introduce scanning into the practice.
Digital impressions eliminate the need to fill a tray with impression material for appropriate cases and create a digital record that can be incorporated into a laboratory or in-office production workflow.
For patients who dislike traditional impressions, that's an immediately understandable benefit.
For the practice, it's another routine procedure that can help make the scanner part of everyday dentistry.
## 4. Retainers and Orthodontic Records
This is where Alliedstar's orthodontic roots become an advantage rather than a limitation.
Many GPs provide at least some orthodontic services.
Others need retainers after treatment, provide limited clear aligner therapy, or simply want digital models for records.
A scanner that fits comfortably into orthodontic workflows gives a GP room to expand those services without purchasing another scanning platform later.
You don't need to become an orthodontist to benefit from technology that has already found a home in orthodontics.
## 5. Clear Aligners
Clear aligner treatment is another natural application.
For GPs who offer aligners—or want to begin offering them—digital scanning can eliminate one of the major analog steps in the workflow.
Instead of taking and shipping physical impressions, a digital scan can be incorporated into compatible digital treatment workflows.
Even if clear aligners represent only a small portion of your practice today, having a scanner available makes it easier to incorporate digital orthodontics as demand grows.
## 6. Diagnostic Models and Digital Records
Not every scan needs to produce a restoration.
A full-arch scan can also become part of your digital records.
That can be useful for documenting existing conditions, monitoring changes, communicating with laboratories, and discussing treatment with patients.
Over time, digital records can also reduce dependence on physical models and the storage that comes with them.
This is one of the reasons scanner utilization can grow after purchase.
A practice may initially buy a scanner for restorative impressions and gradually discover that it has applications throughout the patient journey.
## 7. Patient Communication
Sometimes the value of a scanner isn't the impression.
It's the image on the screen.
Patients don't always understand what the dentist sees clinically.
A digital model gives you another way to show them.
Being able to rotate a 3D representation of their own teeth can help support conversations about wear, missing teeth, alignment, restorative needs, and other conditions.
The scanner becomes more than an impression device.
It becomes another visual communication tool in the operatory.
## You Don't Need a Full Digital Lab to Start Scanning
This is an important point for GPs.
You don't need a 3D printer.
You don't need a mill.
You don't need to manufacture restorations in-house.
And you don't need to completely reinvent your practice.
You can start by scanning and sending digital cases to your laboratory.
Then, if your practice eventually adds 3D printing, chairside manufacturing, more implant dentistry, or additional orthodontic services, the scanner can become part of those workflows too.
**Scanning can be the first step into digital dentistry rather than the final step.**
## Why Alliedstar's Orthodontic Popularity Matters to GPs
A scanner used heavily in orthodontics has to function in an environment where scanning isn't an occasional novelty.
It's part of the workflow.
That matters.
General dentists should look beyond whether a scanner has traditionally been marketed toward their specialty and instead ask whether its capabilities match what they actually need.
Can it handle the everyday scans you plan to take?
Can your team learn it?
Can it work with your preferred digital partners?
Does its software make sense for your practice?
Does the investment make sense relative to how much you'll use it?
Those questions matter much more than whether the logo is most familiar from an orthodontic trade show.
## Alliedstar and the Cost of Going Digital
Cost remains one of the biggest reasons some general dentists haven't purchased an intraoral scanner.
It's understandable.
If you're still taking successful conventional impressions, spending heavily on a scanner can be difficult to justify—particularly if you're unsure how quickly your practice will adopt it.
That's why value matters so much in the first-scanner conversation.
The goal isn't to purchase the most expensive scanner available.
The goal is to find a scanner that gives your practice the digital capabilities it needs at an investment you can reasonably put to work.
For a GP, that can make the difference between saying:
**“We'll eventually go digital.”**
and
**“We can start using this now.”**
## A Scanner Your Team Actually Uses Is the Better Investment
It's easy to compare intraoral scanners by feature lists.
But utilization ultimately determines value.
If a scanner is easy to incorporate into restorative, implant, appliance, and orthodontic workflows, there are more opportunities for your team to use it throughout the week.
That's the goal.
Not buying a scanner for one special type of case.
Not letting it sit in the corner.
Not saving it only for clear aligners.
Instead, make scanning a normal part of the practice.
Crown this morning.
Night guard after lunch.
Implant restoration tomorrow.
Clear aligner records on Friday.
That's what makes an intraoral scanner an everyday technology rather than a specialty purchase.
## From Dental Imaging to Digital Impressions
For years, Renew Digital has helped general dentists transition from film to digital X-ray and from 2D imaging to CBCT.
Intraoral scanning represents another step in that same digital evolution.
The technology is different, but the purchasing question is familiar:
**How do I get the capabilities my practice needs without paying for technology I don't?**
That's exactly why we're excited about introducing more general dentists to Alliedstar.
Its reputation may have grown significantly through orthodontics, but its potential doesn't stop there.
## Final Thoughts
Alliedstar doesn't have to be your “orthodontic scanner.”
It can simply be **your scanner**.
Use it for restorative dentistry.
Use it for implant restorations.
Use it for night guards.
Use it for records.
Use it for retainers and aligners when those cases walk through the door.
And as your practice becomes more digital, use it as the starting point for the workflows you decide to add next.
For general dentists who have been interested in intraoral scanning but haven't yet found the right combination of capability, usability, and value, Alliedstar deserves a closer look.
## Ready to See Alliedstar in Your Practice?
Renew Digital offers **brand-new Alliedstar intraoral scanners** for general dentists ready to move from traditional impressions to a more digital workflow.
Whether this is your first scanner or you're looking for a different approach to intraoral scanning, our team can help you determine which Alliedstar system fits your practice and demonstrate how it can work in the procedures you're already performing every day.
**Don't just watch a scanner demo. Scan with it. Schedule a time to talk Alliedstar with Renew Digital and see how it fits your practice.**
**[](https://learn.renewdigital.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLKowL7J00yOizIR0m%2B%2FsP0FlBgAT9AvwgMHdz65ci7FzYoM%2B89yG%2F%2B3l4QZ%2BNHg7hGzsUUAVgalEZjv0VO7VwPPwSDMxmiQSLBJsNgqimoQ%2BgD0On6WeqXdNK5HGaLDLuGem4zvUVIiuB9fKvce8iYgWZicaRgcnS7Yc5g5iSeS68WUCuaOl54iJpsmrk56Kmhca278d1S5hJZC%2BHzOQg%3D%3D&webInteractiveContentId=144371555189&portalId=22603750)**
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#### Stephen Roberts
[Follow me on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-roberts-18576918/)
Stephen is a Regional Sales Director for Renew Digital Renew Digital. Stephen brings over 15 years of experience serving dentists with device sales and capital equipment. Prior to Renew, Stephen spent nearly a decade in capital equipment sales with Carestream Dental, honored with the National Sales Rep of the Year and a Top Performer in multiple years.
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