A brief introduction to the latest technology at AFD, and how it makes your visits better and faster.
If you recall this fun fact about Dr. Anantuni, it’s that she loves to shop! No, we’re not talking about shopping sprees at Chandler Fashion Center. What Dr. Anantuni loves to shop for is the latest dental tech that she can incorporate into her practice, especially to provide a better experience for her patients!
One of these cool new gadgets she invested in is the iTero 5D scanner. If you’ve had the opportunity for a scan, you may have heard it affectionately referred to as the “weather map.” That’s because the scans, with all of their colors and movement, kind of look like what you see on your nightly news weather forecast. But we assure you, the scans are giving us extremely valuable and insightful information about your oral health, and not about the weather conditions outside.
The iTero 5D Scanner
So, what exactly is the iTero 5D scanner and what does it do?
The iTero is an intraoral scanner, which means it captures 3D images from the interior of your mouth. While intraoral scanning technology has been around for decades, the iTero scanner is truly an advancement because of its unprecedented image clarity, and the small wand size used to obtain these scans.
This translates to a much more comfortable process for patients — no more opening the mouth uncomfortably wide, for several minutes at a time, to capture these scans!
“iTero intraoral scanners are designed to deliver speed, reliability, intuitive operations, and outstanding visualization capabilities for general practitioners or orthodontists. iTero scans have been used in more than 7.5 million restorative crowns, bridges, and custom implant abutment cases and more than 35.4 million iTero orthodontic scans, for a total of 42.9 million scans,” according to Align Technology.
This incredible technology utilizes laser and optical scanning to produce extremely accurate and precise scans, in color. This device has the ability to scan an entire arch in as little as one minute! The iTero saves dentists and practitioners time, and it improves the overall patient experience — making this technology one of the most innovative tools in dentistry.
The iTero 5D Scanner and Invisalign
Invisalign clear aligners are one of the most popular treatments in dentistry today for straightening teeth. They’re more comfortable and convenient than metal braces, and they are nearly invisible which makes patients feel more confident when wearing them.
The iTero scanner is more compatible with the Invisalign system because of its open architecture. With the Invisalign Outcome Simulator, dentists and orthodontists can scan their patients’ mouths with the iTero scanner to produce images showing a realistic portrayal of how the Invisalign treatment will look for a patient. This is often helpful for patients to put their minds at ease before making the commitment and investment for Invisalign.
Also, Align Technology research has shown that the iTero scanner helps dental professionals make more accurate and effective Invisalign treatment plans for their patients. Studies have shown that Invisalign patients who have iTero scans have considerably fewer rejections and fit issues than those without the scans.
iTero 5D Scanning at Anantuni Family Dental
Dentists and orthodontists around the world have seen tremendous benefits in their practices by utilizing the iTero scanner. Speedier scanning, along with clearer and more intuitive imaging, leads to an overall improvement in the patient experience of maintaining and improving oral health.
Dr. Avadhani is a huge fan of the iTero scanner: “It’s an amazing software that helps us analyze patients’ dentition in 3D and identify problems that we would have missed in the past.” Some of the other ways this device has helped both Dr. Anantuni and Dr. Avadhani in treating their patients include:
- Reduces the time a patient has to spend in the chair for procedures, which is more comfortable.
- There’s no need for impression materials during iTero scans.
- There’s no radiation at all, which makes this scanner safe for literally anyone.
- The scan from iTero is stored in the cloud and thereby can be accessed via the cloud. This also enables us to take a new scan and compare it to the earlier one, which makes this a great educational tool.
- It has a tool to analyze the occlusion (bite) of patients and is very efficient in identifying problem areas which can then be presented to the patients in a clear, visual manner.
Are you interested in seeing your own weather map — er, iTero scan? You’ll be amazed at the detail of these images! Be sure to contact us today to schedule your next checkup, and experience the iTero scanner for yourself.
