Digital impression-taking technology is set to see double digit growth rates as laboratory technicians and dentists adopt this solution for manufacturing and fitting dental restorations.
According to Dentalproductsreport.com, the US market for digital impression-taking systems is estimated to reach USD83.5m (GBP55m) by 2015, with the UK braced to follow suit.
In 2008, the US market for digital impression-taking systems increased by 73 per cent over 2007, as a result of new technology and continued investment by laboratory technicians and dentists.
Commenting on the report, Julian Dorey, laboratory technician at the Kingsbridge dental laboratory, who uses the Lava chairside oral scanner (C.O.S) laboratory software from 3M ESPE said: 'The Lava C.O.S is the only software that comes through to the laboratory and takes both the impression and makes a model.
He added: 'It has increased accuracy and the fit is considerably better now.
It certainly has the potential to improve the working relationship between dentists and laboratory technicians.' The primary advantages of using a digital-impression system over traditional processes is the elimination of manual steps involved in creating a restoration.
The technology produces a more accurate restoration because the three-dimensional image is produced instantly, allowing the dentist to make any adjustments necessary to the prep site in real time.
Digital impression-taking technology offers many procedural enhancements for manufacturing and fitting dental restorations.
The Lava COS is able to take an accurate digital impression of the teeth, instantly uploading the image and allowing the dentist to make any corrections or changes to the patient's prepped dentition.
There is an uninterrupted digital workflow process, meaning time-consuming steps such as plaster pouring, base and pin, die cutting, trimming, articulation and scanning are eliminated.
This process also eliminates the risk associated with a traditional physical impression changing size or shape during transportation, which can lead to an inaccurate final restoration.
According to a US market report for Dental Prosthetic Devices 2009, clinical studies have shown that restoration remakes have been reduced from an average of five per cent using traditional methods to less than one per cent with digital impression-taking systems.
Following a typical life cycle of an emerging market, digital impression-taking systems are still in their embryonic stage, where the market is still developing.
According to the report, early clinical studies are encouraging as they have shown high levels of success and are paving the way for more practitioners to adopt the technology.
