Named one of the "Top 10 High-Tech Products" in Dental Products Review’s December 2007 issue, iTero by Cadent is quickly rising in popularity. This digital impression system can replace traditional, messy impressions, saving dentists time and keeping patients more comfortable. In addition, digital impressions are highly accurate. You’ll also be happy to hear that iTero is affordable…no joke.
How it Works
You just wheel the small cart into the operatory, scan your patient’s teeth and occlusion with a handheld unit, make a few adjustments if necessary, then send the digital image into cyberspace – more specifically, via email to a Cadent lab where a restoration is milled. From there, the restoration is sent to a traditional dental lab for custom finishing. See the demo here (link is at bottom of page) http://www.cadentitero.com/content/dentist/.
Benefits
- No yucky impression material
- Saves time for you and patients
- Improves patient satisfaction
- Makes your office look even more high tech
- Improves clinical outcome
- Reduces consumable expenses
- Reduces consumables – and the earth thanks you
Training
Not a techie? No problem. Cadent claims that "the learning curve for dentists and clinicians…is modest." A clinical trainer will help you set up the iTero and teach you how to use it. Of course, online assistance and customer service is always available. The software "guides you every step of the way," according to Cadent, though, so if you can graduate from dental school, you can probably run an iTero machine!
What’s the Cost?
Well, Cadent doesn’t publish pricing online, and I couldn’t find a price at DentalCompare, either. But take heart, this is DentalBlogs! A little birdie (okay, it was Larry Emmott) told me that digital impression systems are affordable at around $15-18K, plus a per-use fee.