cara® Scan 4.0i
Lee Ann Brady, DMD
Most dental professionals would agree that the dental patients of today have greater demands and higher expectations than ever before. In particular, they want their dental procedures to have better outcomes, take less of their time, and cost less. Occasionally, a new technology is developed that offers improvement in all three of these areas, and extraoral impression scanning is definitely one of those technologies. As a result of this new technology, dentists can provide their patients with indirect restorations that are better fitting, take less time, and cost less than restorations created using a traditional impression process alone.
Creating a restoration that fits perfectly requires absolute precision of the impression. The automated digital processing incorporated in extraoral scanners helps to ensure an exceptional fit that cannot be achieved with conventional impression processing.
One extraoral scanner with which I have experienced excellent results is Kulzer’s cara® Scan 4.0i. Dentists will certainly appreciate the fact that they can continue to use their current approach for creating impressions with either triple trays, single trays, or double full arch trays. However, regardless of the preferred tray, it is necessary to use a “scannable” impression material, such as Kulzer’s powder-free Flexitime® Fast & Scan, when taking your impressions.
Beyond achieving a better fit, time is saved as well. Instead of having to package and mail the impression to the dental laboratory, the assistant need only place the trimmed impression in the holder inside the scanner and scan it to create a detailed, digital 3D file. The file is then directly transmitted to the laboratory using the scanner’s built-in server without having to use the office computer. With the cara Scan 4.0i, the assistant uses a touchscreen display to not only scan the impression, but also to create an order and send the files to the laboratory.
Extraoral scanners are also a boon for the dental laboratory, which will save time and reduce costs because it no longer has to devote finances and labor to pouring molds and creating gypsum models for cases prescribing single tooth monolithic restorations.
The biggest winner of all might be the patient. In addition to enjoying dramatically better fitting restorations, patients will receive those restorations in roughly half of the time that it takes with the conventional impression process. Moreover, the patient will also enjoy the lower cost resulting from the savings in labor, material, and postage experienced by the dental practice and the laboratory.
About the Author
Lee Ann Brady, DMD, maintains a private practice in Glendale, Arizona, and is a nationally recognized educator, lecturer, writer, and practitioner.
For more information, contact:
Kulzer
www.kulzerus.com
800-431-1785
