Digital impression: How is it different from traditional impression?

In recent years, digital impression has been taking over as the go-to choice for dentists as well as patients because the concept of digital impressions has revolutionized the technique by which dentists create dental restorations for patients. There are two types of digital impression technology: one captures images as digital photographs and other captures as digital video that creates a detailed map of your teeth and gums. With each image obtained using digital scanning or lasers dentists are now able to create computer-generated virtual models of both soft and hard tissues of the mouth. 

These impressions are different and have huge advantages over traditional dental impressions. Even though new materials for traditional dental impressions have been introduced and new poly ether vinyl silicone (PVS) is mostly used, with perfect tear strength, neutral taste and great dimensional stability. Even with the use of new material, the accuracy of impressions is still not guaranteed, but digital impression systems result in much more precise alternatives with increased efficiency and more accurate technique leading to more predictability in creation of restorations. 

There were significant differences in total working time and procedure between these two dental impressions. For the patient, getting the traditional dental impression can be quite unpleasant if you are a person with a strong gag reflex as you have to wait several minutes while the alginate material sets with teeth clamped in place you might struggle during the entire procedure. Traditional impression taking requires multiple materials and various processes as it is a highly skilled and delicate process that creates more chances of introducing human error and there could also be material defects such as air bubbles, distortions, voids or improper setting . Compared to traditional dental impressions digital dental impression systems eliminate much of the labor and guesswork and helps to reduce or eliminate errors. They also save time during your impression appointment and also during delivery of the restorations as the impression device needs only one visit. Patients have stated that digital dental impressions were overall much more comfortable as they are easier to store, and they do not consume too much space. 

Benefits of digital impression. 

Digital workflows can greatly increase productivity, efficiency, and accuracy by streamlining the production of restorations and eliminating the need for remakes. Digital dental impression technology does bring higher digital impression cost for the dental practice therefore it should be noted beforehand that the reduction in the time the patient spends in the chair can ultimately translate to the dentist being able to treat more patients without overlooking that spending less time in the chair can be ultimately better for the patient experience. Below are some of the benefits that come with these impressions: 

• These impressions require less time in the chair for patients. 
• Improved image/impression quality to ensure better-fitting restorative solutions. 
• It provides you with a more comfortable experience for patients, specifically those with dental anxiety and also to the dental team. 
• Dentists can avoid using goop alginate that causes some people to gag or worse. The completion of the scanning process can be done in under 10 minutes and the restoring teeth takes only four to five minutes. 
• These impressions reduce the possibility of potential for errors Contributing to the storing of the digital impression making it easier for an indefinite period, in less space, and an efficient file system. 
• Green dentistry and eco-friendly solution eliminating the need for disposable plastic trays and the materials used for impression.