...
Air force wants to identify people without getting close to them. They are interested in what clinicians are using, how accurate they are to be able to identify people quickly in extreme situations. UIC is testing a scanner by Ormco to see how it can be used for this project. Each scan takes about 7 minutes for both upper and lower arch, but when they tried, the first time it took them 1 hour but with practice 14-15 minutes for the entire mouth. Resolution is relatively high, chipping can be detected. This scanner does not require powdering. Can use scanner in wet environment, since it requires little time. It requires multiple scans off of multiple surfaces, so it can reconstruct thenetire surface in post-processing. UIC did some comparisons with iTero for rugae studies, but it's convenience is mostly based on color and size (portability).
0.1mm is the minimum resolution required for intra-oral scanning. There are two ways to get the digital intra-oral surface: 1. scan the oral cavity 2) scan the cast. This scanner scans oral cavity directly.
ORMCO takes a video scan, and shows result in real time, as opposed to snapshots. It uses laser beams like barcode scanners, using the fringe patterns, and the scanner looks at the reflection of the fringe pattern, thus being able to acquire the image in real time with video. The claim is that ORMCO technology is less accurate. However after a comparison with plaster model, statistically, they have not seen any difference.
The scan is as accurate than a PVS impression. The scanner avoids the air bubble problematic. The scanner will pickup some defects on the enamel, which alginate cannot show.
3M is the only company that keeps their format completely proprietary. All others allow for STL or other open format exports. Align Technology bought Orthocad. The DVD of the AAO contains a prevention from Anthony Puntillo with a good description of what was available in May for intra-oral scanners.
What would be the ideal characteristics of the intra-oral scanners? Really what the popular interest is whether they are compatible with Invisalign or not. Assistants can take a scan in 8 minutes with iTero for both arches, chair time is not an issue anymore.
dr. Vicente Hernandez projects a table of intraoral scanners on the screen.