Digital Impressions

Abstract

Digital technology has profoundly impacted the dental profession. The rapid expansion and incorporation of Computer-Assisted Design/Computer-Assisted Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) into the field of dentistry has been documented since the beginning of the 1990s. The development of CAD/CAM is based on three elements: data acquisition, data processing, and manufacturing. This chapter focuses primarily on data acquisition with some reference to processing and manufacturing. The digital impression has significantly improved the ability to immediately evaluate tooth preparations. Since the introduction of intraoral scanning in the 1980s, there has been constant innovation. The first scanners recorded still images and required intraoral scanning spray. All of the currently available conventional impression materials exhibit a small degree of dimensional change that builds distortion and inaccuracy into the final restoration. Research on the accuracy of digital impressions focuses on the trueness and precision of a scan.