Intraoral Scanners
Making accurate dental impressions is easily the most essential part of submitting a case. There are many different options out there for capturing dental impressions, from traditional impressions to the wide variety of intraoral scanners available on the market today.
3-D technology has had a significant impact on dentistry in the last 20 years, and it is only expected to increase in the coming years. More and more doctors are moving over to intraoral scanners.
A study from 2014 found that the use of intraoral scanners could significantly accelerate the work flow of making impressions.
Some benefits of using an intraoral scanner include:
- More comfortable for patients than conventional impressions
- Save costs on impression materials
- No shipping hassles
- Higher accuracy than traditional impressions
- Fewer errors resulting in having to re-impress
- Facilitates sending scans to ClearCorrect electronically, resulting in a faster turnaround
Scanners We Accept
ClearCorrect accepts records from most intraoral scanners currently on the market.
With the wide variety of intraoral scanners available, selecting the best intraoral scanner for you really comes down to your preferences. Some things you might want to consider when choosing a scanner:
- Is the scanner portable?
- Is the scanner light and easy to use?
- Will the scanning experience be comfortable for patients?
- Is there a cost for image export and storage?
- Is the software for the scanner compatible with your practice management software?
Scanner Instructions
You can upload scan files from any intraoral scanner to the Doctor Portal as long as the file is in STL format. (STL is an open, industry-standard file format that can be exported by most popular scanners.) Export your STL files from your scanner to your computer, and then upload those files when you submit a case online.
Here are instructions on some of the common scanners:
- How to Submit Cases with a 3Shape TRIOS Scanner
- How to Submit Cases with a Virtuo Vivo Scanner
- How to Submit a Case with AlliedStar
- How to Submit Cases Using a Medit Scanner Tutorial
- How to Submit Cases with a CEREC Scanner
- How to Submit Cases with CEREC Ortho
- How to Submit Cases with an iTero Scanner
- How to Submit Cases with a Carestream Scanner
Scanning Tips
The following are a few tips for using scanners:
- We strongly recommend that you visually inspect your STL files before you submit them to us. Our favorite STL viewing application is netfabb Studio Basic, which is available free for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Other options include MiniMagics and FreeCAD.
- Some scanners output several files, but the only ones we need are the upper and lower arches. The arches should be saved in separate files, with the arches oriented in occlusion.
- Scan both arches, even if you’re only treating or revising one of them. Recreating the occlusion based on one arch is prone to error. (This advice applies to PVS impressions as well.)
- We prefer “closed shell” models, but “open shell” models are acceptable too.
- To prevent aligners from flaring at the edges, always capture at least 3-5 mm’s of gingiva in the scan.
- Capture more accurate bite scans by including as much of the occlusion as your scanner allows.
- We can’t provide support for your scanner software, but if you’ve got any other questions, as always, your account rep is here to help.
Trademark Declarations:
- The 3M True Definition Scanner logo is a trademark of 3M, St. Paul MN
- The 3shape logo is a trademark of 3Shape A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark
- The Dentsply Sirona logo is a trademark of Dentsply Sirona, Charlotte NC
- The Planmeca Emerald logo is a trademark of Planmeca OY, Helsinki, Finland
- The Carestream Dental logo is a trademark of Carestream Dental, LLC, Atlanta GA
- The Virtuo Vivo logo is a trademark of Dental Wings, Montreal, Canada
- The iTero logo is a registered trademark of Align Technology, Santa Clara, CA
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