Integrating Intraoral Scanners in Dental Practice

Conventional impression techniques have been used to register the three-dimensional geometry of the oral hard and soft tissues, since the inception of the era of dentistry. Despite the advancements in impression materials over the years, volumetric changes of impression materials and expansion of dental stone seem to be highly error-prone, and thus the process requires the services of an excellent dental laboratory. To overcome these difficulties associated with traditional techniques, impressions with intraoral scanner (IOS) and computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technologies were developed for dental practice. Recently, there has been a surge in the number of optical IOS devices, and each of these are based on different technologies; the choice of which may have an impact on clinical use. This article throws light on the different technologies currently used for distance object determination, and the basic clinical considerations such as operator handling, steepness of learning curve, and the recommended scanning paths.