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First of all, there are three companies providing digital impressions – Cadent iTero, 3M, and Sirona.
Anyone looking to invest in digital imaging should compare contrast the pluses and minuses of each brand. Two other companies are looking to get into the market with this technology, so keep that in mind, too.

In a very short time, digital dental impressions have become the obvious future of what we’re going to be doing in the industry. Be sure to look for the technology at big exhibits and shows so that you can learn about its capabilities and limitations.

We’ve had iTero in my downtown Denver dental office for over a year and a half, and we’ve had tremendous success with it. Consistently, patients are very impressed. There’s always a “wow” factor with new technology, which isn’t a reason to buy, but it does impress patients. They see the benefits, and they can participate some in what we’re doing. Those who’ve had lots of dentistry and have had to suffer with traditional impressions really appreciate it.

The price for digital imaging technology is around $25K. There is certainly an investment, but there are a number of things to consider – no impression materials are used for traditional method of impressions; fairly routinely, tray impressions must be retaken. A digital impression retake has no cost. Just erase and retake. It’s like a digital camera versus a film camera – there’s no cost for additional digital shots, so you can take and erase as many as you like.

Weigh all the plusses and minuses when looking at cost. How soon does digital imaging take to pay for itself? Some profitability is more indirect – better quality impressions, better model work with the lab. The reason we really enjoy it and would not go back is the increased accuracy. When we get a crown back from a lab fabricated from digital impression, it almost always fits better with occlusion than crowns made from conventional impressions at the same lab. There’s big-time savings in the office at delivery of restoration being quicker.