Australasian Dentist Magazine Sept-Oct 2021

114 Australasian Dentist LABS C rown and bridge restorations can be a tricky business. There are a range of problems that dentists must overcome to achieve the best treatment outcome possible. And any inaccuracies in the preparations process can waste time and money — and test your patient’s patience. Replacing old manual impression techniques with more accurate digital intraoral scans is the key to achieving consistent accuracy in crown and bridge preparations, says Ian Feigen, Technical Director at Avant Dental. “Intraoral scanners have vastly improved accuracy in crown and bridge preparations,” he explains. “Manual impressions were prone to inaccuracies that could affect the fit of the dental crown, which would often require costly and time-consuming remakes. Intraoral scanners solve that problem.” Dr Sean Parsonage, Practice Owner and Principal Dentist at Spa Dental in Sydney CBD, adds that air bubbles trapped in the manual impression materials, and any movement before the manual impression material is fully set can create distortion in the analogue mould. Fortunately, Dr Parsonage says digital intraoral scanners have largely solved these problems. “All the little inaccuracies that happen with impressions don’t seem to be there with scanners. The bite position is always very good, so there tends to be very few bite adjustments that need to be made with a scanner.” Show, don’t tell Feigen says intraoral scanners can also be a valuable communication tool for dentists to help patients visualise the problem, and why a crown or bridge is required. “It’s true that a picture paints 1,000 words,” he says. “A scanner provides an instant visual representation of the patient’s mouth that the dentist can use to explain why a crown or bridge treatment is the best option. This is an effective way to build trust.” “With a scanner, I can show the patient this is your tooth, this is the crack line, and it’s not going to go away,” Dr Parsonage adds. “I find this helps patients accept that there is a problem, and I encourage them to weigh up the greater cost of having to get an implant put in later if they completely lose the tooth.” Measure twice, cut once Dr Lawrence Neville, practice owner and principal dentist at Spa Dental in Sydney CBD, adds that an intraoral scanner will even let you know when occlusal clearance is unsuitable. “You’re getting measurements and real-time analytics from the scanner while the patient is still in the chair,” he says. “For example, if you’re taking a manual impression and are too minimal with your occlusal clearance, the dental lab technician would either make me a crown that’s not thick enough and will break, or they’ll tell you have to re-prep. “That’s a waste of time. You’d have to call the patient back in to do another impression, so they’re already annoyed.” He says intraoral scanners eliminate that issue with real-time feedback: “The scanner tells me in real time to take another half a millimetre away. That’s a massive advantage for treatment planning.” Partner with a digital dental lab Feigen points out that partnering with a digital dental lab like Avant Dental is critical to any practice’s ability to deliver consistent treatment outcomes. “The latest technology enables Avant Dental toworkwith dentists to get the best outcome for dentists and their patients,” he explains. “Digital scans are sent to our technicians almost instantly, and we can do live reviews of intraoral scans while the patient is still in the chair. The dentist gets instant feedback whilst speaking on the phone with an expert technician, so they can resolve any issues on the spot.” Dr Neville adds that intraoral scanners standardise crown and bridge impressions, and enable dentists and dental labs to create much more time- and cost-efficient digital workflows. “A scanner cuts out a lot of the steps involved in taking an impression,” he says. “There are many steps involved in taking a manual impression — from the tooth being prepared for the impression, to taking the impression, to getting it bagged up, and sent to the technician. At each one of those steps, something can go wrong. There can be flaws in every part of the process. “But an intraoral scanner cuts the process down to about five steps. So straight away you’re going to negate any sort of mishap, and it’s going to standardise your crown and bridge preparations a lot more.” u To find out more about partnering with Avant Dental for all your crown and bridge prep needs email contact@avantdental.com.au or phone 1800 287 336. The digital lab: Optimising crown and bridge preparations with intraoral scanners