Metal Mouth Message Board

Has anybody had their Invisalign Impressions done with the new iTero scanner which eliminates the need for gooey molds to be used? Can anyone comment on the fit of trays that have been produced from digital impressions?

I'm very interested to hear anything about this and also if anyone knows if any orthos in Brisbane may have this technology.

I had the scan done but I don't know if it was called itero or not. I thought it was IOC or something. Mine had no powder...just a light scan. It was super easy and much better than the invisalign mould I had done at a previous ortho. This was like a library check out scanner. It was just placed against my teeth and it snapped the photo as soon as it detected we had the right angle. It took about 20 minutes and I couldn't possibly be happier with the fit of my aligners. I don't have attachments yet and so they are 100% invisible...no bubbles or space anywhere. I get attachments tomorrow so I guess the invisible benefit will be gone but at least I know they are an excellent fit.

Also note worthy is that I have about the smallest mouth in the world and the scanner was able to fit in everywhere without discomfort. I highly recommend it.

Dr. Tam has a link on here to the scanner somewhere if you take a look around. Try putting scanner into the search engine and see what pops up.

Thankyou for the feedback and I do believe they are the same scanner. Great to hear they are a good fit and it would be intersting to hear how you get on once the attachments are in place.

Good luck!

I had an orthodontist tell me that the itero scanner can be more accurate than impressions, because the mold can distort somewhat.

I'm curious if the scanner makes a big difference in the final outcome of the treatment?

There haven't been studies to compare impressions vs iTero scanned Invisalign treatments yet.

What I can say anecdotally is that the aligners created from a scan seem to fit much better than those with impressions. One of the most important parts of aligner treatment is to make sure there is excellent adaptation to the teeth. When we are starting off with a more accurate aligner, it means that treatment is more likely to reflect the plan the doctor has put together.

I have had mine done with a scanner too (not sure if it was called itero or not either!). For me it was not quite so easy, despite having a huge mouth lol.

Its very much like a hand-held barcode scanner as mentioned earlier, and so because I have all of my wisdom teeth through already, it was bloody hard to correctly scan in all of my back teeth. Just imagine squeezing a big ol' barcode scanner between your teeth and inside cheek, pushing it far back enough and angling it correctly to take pictures of your wisdom teeth... it got pretty uncomfortable!

But to manage your expectations, the dentist told me it usually takes 20mins to do, with his quickest time being about 10mins and longest 30mins. Mine took about 40mins lol. But hey at least it was thorough, and its not like it hurts or anything!

The system is great though - the scanner is hooked up to a computer, and the software will highlight any areas that have not been scanned properly (or any questionable gaps in the scan i.e. where it thinks the scanner might have missed out areas of your teeth or if the gumline was missed). So I can only imagine it is way more accurate than moulds, which can probably distort quite easily and is at risk of damage when being posted (the scanned images can obviously be emailed instantly!).

The only thing I don't really understand is how the scan knows the actual dimensions of your teeth (i.e. how does it know a tooth is 2cm long and not 3cm long... technology eh...!). Either way my invisalign ultimately fit well so I'm happy. The real test will be how my teeth look when I'm debanded next year!!

For now at least, would definitely recommend scanning over moulds.

My personal experience is that the trays made with the scan fit a lot better! Looks like so and feels like so. You know how the ones made with the impression would go in and out easily the 2nd week onward. I'm wearing the new ones for the 3rd week and they are still snugly fit.

My dentist just got the iTero system, and my scan was done while the iTero trainer was present.

In my case, I experienced a bit of discomfort while the clinician scanned my molars because of the limited space to get the scanner back there.
It probably didn't help that the clinician wasn't well trained yet, but the Itero trainer was right there to provide guidance.

The software is able to create a 3D model right away. When I asked about the position of a particular tooth that doesn't appear to be moving correctly, the dentist was able to zoom in on the tooth at a high resolution and address my question very well. It was great as a visual aid.