Intraoral Camera and Digital Impressions Atlanta
At Rose Dental, impressions of your mouth are taken with the Planmeca Emerald S digital intraoral scanner to ensure your dental appliance or restoration is custom-made for optimum fit and functionality.
The Emerald S is the fastest intraoral scanner currently available and provides full-color digital scans for a variety of your dental needs.
What Are Digital Impressions?
Digital impressions use intraoral scanners to create three dimensional images of your oral cavity without the need for physical mold materials. The digital scanner captures thousands of images per second as it moves over your teeth and gums, which are then combined into a complete digital model of your mouth. This digital data provides the dental laboratory with precise measurements and reference points needed to fabricate your dental restorations.
The digital impression process differs significantly from traditional methods. Conventional impressions require the dentist to fill trays with impression materials, place them in your mouth, and wait several minutes for the mold material to set before removing it. This process can trigger a strong gag reflex, cause discomfort, and sometimes requires multiple attempts if air bubbles form or the material doesn’t set properly. Digital impressions work by simply moving a wand-like intraoral camera around your teeth, capturing images that appear on a computer screen in real time.
How Digital Impressions Work
The scanning process begins when your dental assistant or dentist uses the handheld scanner to capture images of your prepared teeth, adjacent teeth, and opposing teeth. The Planmeca Emerald S, the fastest intraoral scanner currently available, provides full-color digital scans that show every detail of your oral structures. As the digital scanner moves through your mouth, it captures the soft tissue, bite alignment, and tooth preparations needed for your treatment plan.
Within 2-3 minutes, you will see on the computer screen the completed scan, which gives you a clear understanding of your teeth’s condition and bite formation. This immediate visualization allows you to make a more informed decision regarding your treatment options. The dentist reviews the digital images with you, explaining what each view shows and how it relates to your treatment process. If additional scans are needed, they can be taken immediately without repeating the entire scanning process.
The digital file is then sent via e-mail or secure digital transfer to the dental lab, where technicians use the digital data to design and fabricate your final restoration. Many dentists appreciate how digital solutions eliminate the delays and potential errors associated with shipping physical materials. The dental laboratory receives an exact digital model that provides far more detailed images than traditional impression materials could capture, resulting in restorations that fit better and require fewer adjustments.
Advantages of Digital Impressions Over Traditional Methods
Enhanced Patient Comfort
One of the most significant advantages of taking digital impressions is improved patient comfort compared to traditional dental impressions. Patients with a strong gag reflex find the digital process much more tolerable than sitting with bulky trays and mold material in their mouths. The handheld scanner doesn’t trigger gagging, and you can breathe normally throughout the scanning process. For patients who suffer from anxiety about dental procedures, digital impressions provide a much less stressful experience.
The digital impression system eliminates the unpleasant taste and texture of traditional impression materials. There’s no sitting and waiting with sticky impression material stuck in your mouth, no concern about the mold material setting correctly, and no discomfort from trays pressing against soft tissue. This makes the treatment process significantly more pleasant, particularly for children, elderly patients, and anyone with sensitive teeth or gums.
Superior Accuracy and Precision
Digital impressions offer higher accuracy than conventional impressions, reducing human error and improving the fit of your dental restorations. Traditional materials can distort, shrink, tear, or develop air bubbles, all of which compromise the accuracy of the physical mold. Digital scans capture precise measurements down to microns, ensuring the dental laboratory has exact specifications for fabricating your restoration.
The Planmeca Emerald S seamlessly records a 3D full-color impression of your mouth that can be integrated with our 3D Cone-Beam CT scans to form a unified and complete diagnostic image. This comprehensive digital data allows for very detailed planning of dental implants, partials, and many other highly specialized treatments and oral appliances. The digital model shows bite registration, the relationship between upper and lower teeth, and other details that might be missed with traditional materials.
Improved Treatment Planning and Communication
Digital impressions enhance improving communication between our dental office and the dental laboratory, as well as between the dentist and patient. When the dentist reviews the digital images on the computer screen with you, you can see exactly what they see, making it easier to understand your oral health status and the proposed treatment plan. This visual communication helps patients feel more confident about their treatment options.
The digital technology also allows for better collaboration with dental practices and specialists. The digital file can be shared instantly with the dental laboratory, orthodontists, or other dental professionals involved in your care. This eliminates the shipping time required for physical materials and allows the treatment process to begin immediately. Many dentists find that digital solutions reduce chair time and improve workflow efficiency.
Reduced Need for Retakes
Traditional impression materials frequently require multiple attempts to achieve an acceptable physical mold. Air bubbles, material tearing, patient movement, or improper setting can all necessitate starting over with new impression materials. Digital impressions eliminate these issues, as the dentist can immediately see if any areas need additional scans. If the digital scanner misses a small section, that specific area can be rescanned without redoing the entire impression.
This efficiency saves time for both patients and dental practices. Rather than scheduling a second appointment to retake a failed traditional dental impression, issues can be addressed immediately during the same visit. The digital impression process typically requires only one appointment, streamlining your overall treatment timeline.
Rose Dental’s Planmeca Emerald S Digital Impression System
At Rose Dental, impressions of your mouth are taken with the Planmeca Emerald S digital intraoral scanner to ensure your dental appliance or restoration is custom-made for optimum fit and functionality. The Emerald S is the fastest intraoral scanner currently available and provides full-color digital scans for a variety of your dental needs.
Whether it’s an appliance like a night guard or retainer, or whether we’re designing a partial, dentures, a crown, or implant for you, you’ll need a dental impression. The better and more accurate your dental impression, the more comfortable and effective your dental appliance, prosthetic, or restoration will be.
With this advanced technology, we instantly see every aspect of your teeth and gums with incredible detail, uncovering cracked teeth, plaque deposits, cavities next to fillings, and excessive wear. The Planmeca Emerald S helps us discover oral problems early on, meaning your treatment is much less invasive and much more cost-effective. This early detection capability makes digital impressions valuable not just for creating restorations but also as a diagnostic tool during routine examinations.
The hand-held intraoral Emerald S is wand-like and not much larger than the small mirror we also use to view your teeth. Patients find the scanner easy to tolerate, and the scanning process typically takes only 2-3 minutes for a complete scan of your upper and lower arches. The digital technology captures clear, detailed images that provide far more patient information than traditional methods.
Applications of Digital Impressions
Digital impressions serve numerous purposes in modern dental practices, making them versatile tools for various dental procedures:
Crowns and Bridges Digital scans provide precise measurements of prepared teeth and adjacent teeth, ensuring crowns and bridges fit perfectly and maintain proper bite alignment with opposing teeth. The dental laboratory uses the digital data to mill or fabricate restorations with exceptional accuracy.
Dental Implants For dental implant planning, digital impressions combined with 3D imaging provide comprehensive information about bone structure, implant positioning, and the final restoration design. This integration allows for highly predictable implant placement and optimal aesthetic results.
Orthodontic Treatment Digital impressions create accurate models for clear aligners, retainers, and orthodontic treatment planning. The digital model allows orthodontists to simulate tooth movement and show patients predicted treatment outcomes before beginning the treatment process.
Dentures and Partials Taking digital impressions for dentures and partial dentures ensures better fit and comfort than traditional impression materials. The digital scanner captures the soft tissue contours and bite registration needed for stable, well-fitting prosthetics.
Night Guards and Oral Appliances Custom night guards, sports guards, and sleep apnea appliances benefit from the precision of digital impressions. The digital model ensures these appliances fit comfortably and function effectively.
Why Digital Impressions Are Better for Your Oral Health
Beyond patient comfort, digital impressions contribute to better oral health outcomes. The higher accuracy means dental restorations fit better, reducing gaps where bacteria could accumulate and cause decay. Well-fitting restorations also place less stress on surrounding teeth and soft tissue, promoting long-term oral health.
The digital process allows the dentist to identify potential problems before finalizing your treatment plan. If the scan reveals that adjacent teeth have decay or that the bite alignment needs adjustment, these issues can be addressed before creating your restoration. This comprehensive approach aligns with Rose Dental’s holistic philosophy of treating your entire oral health, not just the immediate concern.
Digital impressions also reduce exposure to potentially irritating traditional materials. Some patients experience allergic reactions or sensitivity to impression materials, while the digital process eliminates this concern entirely. For a holistic dental office committed to biocompatible approaches, digital dentistry represents an important advancement in patient safety and comfort.
Experience Digital Impressions at Rose Dental
At Rose Dental, the Planmeca Emerald S is just one of the many helpful tools we use for prevention and treatment, providing you with the latest and best in oral and overall healthcare. Our investment in advanced technology reflects our commitment to offering treatment options that prioritize your comfort while delivering superior results.
Dr. Zina Aaron and our experienced team understand that many patients feel anxious about dental procedures. Digital impressions eliminate one of the most uncomfortable aspects of restorative dentistry, making your experience more pleasant from start to finish. The scanning process is quick, non-invasive, and provides immediate results you can see and understand.
Ready to experience the numerous benefits of digital impressions? Contact Rose Dental today at (678) 528-6747 or request an appointment to learn how our digital impression system can improve your dental care experience and deliver exceptional results for your dental restorations.
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