Dental work has never been an experience that many find pleasing. Part of the experience used to include impressions. These are the trays that are filled with that messy silicone type of material that hardens as it sits in your mouth for five minutes. The great news is, those impressions are gone forever.

Digital scanners are changing the world of dentistry. The dentist can prepare teeth for porcelain restorations and immediately scan them to save the information that they would usually get from the impressions. Patients no longer have to feel that unpleasant sense of gagging as the impression material hardens in their mouth.

Our office has been using the 3Shape Trios scanner for a year now and the results have been tremendous. The crowns, veneers, bridges, mouth guards, and implants have seen a significant increase in their quality of fit and finish. The scanner takes approximately 1,500 scans in a three-dimensional mode. The scans are then all stitched together by the software. A 3-D model can then be printed and used for any required restoration. I have been able to use it to measure clearances, preview smiles, and communicate shape and color to the laboratory technician. Our patients have been very vocal about the scanner and they approve.

This technology is not limited to just restorations. Multiple scans of the same patient can be grouped together. This grouping is of different scans over time. The software allows us to see how the patient is wearing down their teeth and how teeth have moved over time. This type of diagnosis helps the patient visualize what is happening with their mouth.

If you are in need of dental work but dread the thought of all those impressions, come see us for a demonstration of our new Trios scanner. Once you have seen how it works, you will never go back.

Dr. James T. Gavrilos is located at 129 Park Avenue in Barrington. For more information, call 847-381-4040 or visit barringtondentist.com.