Advantages and disadvantages of intraoral scanning versus impression technique - personal impressions.

In my practice, I have been scanning with the i500 (Medit) since the beginning of the covid epidemic. I have previously briefly tested the CEREC Bluecam and Redcam, the i500 and the 3shape Trios 2. In my opinion, the i500 is perhaps the most successful budget scanner to date.

 

And essentially:

Advantages:
* Disadvantages:

   1. Re-scan, this allows us to delete small, large or whole areas and re-scan ie. increased manipulability.

   2. Skipping the plaster models (also tested for large structures), i.e. we reject any error that we carry with the impression due to the application of different pressures.

3. Byte-scan – improved accuracy in the transfer of information from the mouth, thanks to the fact that we do not put anything between the teeth.
3* I notice that there are sometimes difficulties in bilateral occlusal scanning when the entire maxilla and mandible are scanned.

4. Happy patients who have a pronounced lift reflex.

4*Cooling the scanner head has resulted in sensitivity sensations in 2 patients so far.

5. Saving an accessible archive extremely easily and the possibility of visualization at any time.

6. Speeding up the process without reducing accuracy. Capturing information on a single structure can be done faster than taking a sector footprint even.

7. Color visualization of the captured information from the oral cavity.

Disadvantages:
*Advantages:

1. Dealing with computers. Not everyone likes working with computers. Sometimes software gives errors…

2. Getting to know the device and gaining experience in use.

3. I have sometimes had difficulty scanning multiple metal restorations in the lower jaw.

4. Need for calibration and/or update which can slow down the workflow.

This is of course a small compilation of my conclusions. It would be very interesting if other colleagues share their observations. The positive reactions of the patients are an additional plus that makes me very happy.