The gag reflex triggering can happen when you or another person, like your dentist, touches the roof of your mouth and the back of your tongue or throat. Although the gag reflex is essential for preventing the swallowing of foreign objects, it can also hinder your dentist’s taking of traditional dental impressions, be uncomfortable and cause breathing difficulty. That is the reason many dental clinics are increasingly adopting Cedar Park digital impressions. Digital dental imaging, also called 3-D intraoral scanning, is one of the latest technologies in dentistry that enables your dentist to digitally capture a replica of your mouth.
Your dentist uses a wand-like tool linked to an advanced program and computer to create a virtual model of the different structures of your mouth. After taking digital images or videos of your mouth, your dentist can send the results to the lab to help quickly and accurately create dental restorations such as crowns, retainers, mouth guards, and bridges.
Below are reasons dental digital impressions are better than their traditional counterparts.
1. Provide more comfort
The process of capturing the conventional dental impression is uncomfortable. The material your dentist uses to create an image of your mouth is often messy, triggers gagging, and may taste extremely unpleasant.
Unlike traditional impressions, digital impressions feel less invasive in your mouth and do not trigger reflex muscular contraction at the back of your throat. An experienced digital impressions specialist uses a special scanner to capture images of the structures of your mouth, including the teeth and gums. Digital dental impressions are excellent for you if you have a sensitive gag reflex and do not like foreign objects invading your mouth.
2. Easier to get dental restorations
You may seek a dental restoration procedure due to chronic teeth grinding, tooth decay, or tooth fractures or injury. For instance, your teeth may decay and have cavities due to consuming foods and drinks with high sugar content. The harmful bacteria in your mouth feeds on the bacteria and, in return, produces an acidic plaque and tartar that destroys the structure of your tooth.
You may constantly grind your teeth frequently because of sleep disorders, missing teeth, anxiety, or stress.
When your dentist takes conventional dental impressions, they will take more time to reach the lab.
However, the process involved in taking digital dental impressions is very smooth and easy. Your dentist can send the images to the lab as soon as they are captured. The pictures received in the lab can help your dentist create your unique dental restorations, whether you want implants, crowns, veneers, or mouth guards.
The dental restorations that result from digital dental impressions also can fit the teeth and mouth better. Digital images are not susceptible to alterations due to human error like conventional dental imaging.
Moreover, because there is less or no human error, your dentist only takes a few impressions of your teeth. That can save you time and money.
Contact Freedom Orthodontics today to schedule an appointment with a digital dental impressions specialist.