Why every appointment here starts with a scan

Seeing is understanding

A dental examination used to be something that happened to you. The dentist looked, said a few numbers to a nurse, and you took their word for it. An intra-oral scan changes the direction of that conversation. The wand passes over your teeth, a three-dimensional model builds on the screen beside you, and we look at the same picture together.

Most people have never seen the backs of their own lower teeth, or the way their bite meets on one side and not quite on the other. Once you can see it, the explanation gets shorter and the decision gets easier. We find patients ask better questions when they are looking at their own mouth rather than at a diagram of someone else's.

What the scan replaces

For most of the last century, making anything for a mouth began with a tray of impression putty. It was cold, it set slowly, and for anyone with a strong gag reflex it was the worst part of the visit. The result was a physical mould that could distort, tear, or be lost in the post to a laboratory.

The iTero™ and Primescan scanners in our surgeries do the same job with light. There is nothing to set and nothing to swallow. The model is a file, not a lump of plaster, so it can be checked immediately, stored safely and sent to our CEREC mill on site, or to a master ceramist in seconds. For people who have put off treatment because of the putty, this alone is a relief.

Tracking change over time

The part I value most is less obvious on the day. Because every visit begins with a scan, we build up a record of your mouth over the years. Scans taken at different appointments can be laid over one another, and the software shows where a tooth surface has changed, even by a fraction of a millimetre.

That matters for tooth wear in particular. Grinding and acid erosion are slow, and the eye adjusts to slow change. The scanner does not. If a tooth is losing height, we can usually see it long before it becomes a problem, and talk about the cause while there is still plenty of tooth to protect. A scan is a measurement, not an opinion.

What the scan feeds

A scan is rarely the end of anything. If you are considering Invisalign®, the iTero scan produces an on-screen preview of how your teeth could move, before you commit to anything. If you need a crown, the same scan is the starting point for the design our laboratory mills on the CEREC, sometimes the same day.

Night guards, sports mouthguards and retainers are made from it too, printed or formed on models that come straight from the file. The practical result is that things fit. A retainer made from a scan taken this morning is made to measure in the plainest sense, and a guard that fits well is one you will actually wear.

Two scanners, one habit

We use two makes of scanner, iTero and Primescan, and there is one or the other in every surgery. They do the same job in slightly different ways. The iTero is the scanner Invisalign is built around, so it is the one we reach for when teeth are going to move. The Primescan is paired with our CEREC milling unit, so it is the natural start for a crown or a veneer that will be made here on site, or by a ceramist we trust.

What matters more than the make is the habit. A scanner that sits in a cupboard for special cases records very little. One that is used at the beginning of every appointment, for every patient, builds a record worth having. We decided that the scan would be the first thing we do, every time, for everyone, and the decision has repaid itself in what it has shown us.

What it is like on the day

The scan takes a few minutes and is done in the chair before the examination proper. You can breathe normally and stop whenever you like. The model appears on the screen as it builds, so there is no waiting for a result. If you want to see something closer, we can turn it, zoom in and look at a single tooth from any angle.

Nothing is decided from the scan alone. It sits alongside the examination, your X-rays where needed and, for complex work, a CBCT image. But it is the first thing we do, every time, because it gives both of us the same picture to work from. Everything we plan afterwards is planned against it, in writing, before any treatment begins.