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Digital Impressions Offer Many Benefits

Did you know digital dental impressions improve the quality of your dental work?

If you have ever had the experience of sitting in the dentist chair with your mouth chock full of a foul-tasting substance, trying not to gag for a full 15 minutes, then you know what getting an impression taken of your teeth for needed dental work used to be. The good news is that a new technology now exists which can replace that unpleasant experience of taking teeth impressions known as digital optical dental impressions.

Digital optical impressions significantly increase the accuracy of the impression, and make it possible for dentists to e-mail the virtual impression to the laboratory, rather than send impressions through the mail. Also, digital impressions can be used to make same day dentistry restorations, thereby speeding up patient treatment and reducing the need for multiple office visits.

Benefits of digital impressions:

Digital Impressions Offer Many Benefits

  • Improved impression quality for better-fitting restorations
  • Less chair time
  • No need for distasteful impression materials
  • More comfortable, less anxious experience for patients and the dental team
  • Reduced possibility of impression-taking errors and elimination of material inaccuracies for fewer restoration mistakes

Patients tend to become more engaged in, and better informed about, the treatment process because they can see their impressions on-screen chair side. The scan of the teeth can be completed in just three to five minutes. The digital impression can be stored electronically indefinitely, which saves space, contributes to efficient record-keeping, and supports a paper-free environment.

The process is eco-friendly and includes eliminating the need for disposable plastic trays and impression materials, which otherwise would be polluting landfill space; digital data can be eliminated with the “delete” button.

Dr. Finlay and his team have invested in the latest technology that helps to replace this unpleasant procedure 80% of the time. His practice is one of only a handful in the state of Maryland that have embraced and implemented digital impressions to benefit his patients and their treatment protocols.

The current version that Dr. Finlay and Dr. Lim employ is called the Lava C.O.S. It is a breakthrough in imaging technology and is one of the most sophisticated optical systems in dentistry. The process involves an optical wand that contains tiny camera lenses. These lenses capture detailed video images, ensuring extraordinarily accurate impressions resulting in a precise-fitting restoration.

Although the new digital technique does not totally replace the use of traditional impressions, it has made the majority of the procedures more comfortable with the added benefit of predictable accuracy.