Ask people what they dislike most about the dentist and you will hear about the drill and the needle. Ask a slightly different question — what made them gag, or panic, or ask for a break — and a surprising number describe a tray of putty held in their mouth for several minutes while it set.
We are a digital impression practice and use an iTero Element intraoral scanner. That tray is simply gone.
What happens instead
A small wand is passed slowly over your teeth and gums, building a 3D model on a screen beside you as it goes. Nothing is inserted that has to stay there. Nothing sets. There is no taste and no material to swallow.
During the process you can breathe or swallow as you normally would. You can pause if you need to sneeze, or just to ask a question. It takes a few minutes per arch.
Why accuracy matters as much as comfort
The comfort is what patients notice. The accuracy is what determines whether your crown fits.
A putty impression can distort, as it sets, or as it is pulled off the teeth. Small distortions become crowns that need adjusting, or sent back to the laboratory, or that seat slightly imperfectly at the margin where crown meets tooth. That margin is where decay starts underneath a restoration, so a fractionally poor fit is not a cosmetic issue; it is the thing that decides how long the crown lasts.
A digital scan is checked on screen before you get out of the chair. If a margin was not captured cleanly, we rescan that area immediately rather than discovering the problem two weeks later at your fit appointment.
What it is used for
- Crowns, bridges, inlays and onlays
- Implant restorations, where position has to be exact
- Invisalign clear aligners and retainers, manufactured directly from the digital file
- Night guards and sports guards
- Records before orthodontic treatment, so movement can be measured against a starting point
The unexpected benefit
The model is the clearest way most people ever see their own teeth. We can rotate it, zoom in, and show you the worn cusp or the area of recession you have never actually looked at. Patients find it considerably easier to understand than an X-ray, and it makes the conversation about what to do next a shared one rather than a verdict.
Because the scan is stored, it also becomes a reference point. A scan taken today can be compared against one taken in three years to show whether wear or recession is progressing — which is very hard to judge from memory.
No radiation
Worth stating plainly, because it is the second question people ask: the iTero uses optical scanning — light and a camera. It is not an X-ray and involves no radiation.
If impressions have made you gag in the past, mention it when you book on (630) 427-1800. It is exactly the problem this solves.
