Intraoral scanners: A narrative review

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Accurate impressions are essential in fabricating dental restorations and fixed dental prostheses. During the last decade, digital impression systems have improved substantially. The objective of this narrative review is to discuss the recent research on intraoral scanners with regards to it's technology, accuracy and applications for fabrication of dental restorations and fixed dental prostheses. Materials and methods: A search strategy was performed in MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar with keywords - intraoral scanners, accuracy, applications, dentistry. Results: 395 articles were retrieved. After hand search a total of 415 articles were identified. Ultimately, 30 articles were selected and summarized and discussed as they met the selection criteria. Conclusion: Within the scope of this review, reported literature showed that digital intra-oral impressions have presented an achievement in the dental market as they reduce time required and simplify the clinical procedures with better communication with the technician and the patient. The current intraoral scanners (IOS) are sufficiently accurate for capturing impressions for fabrication of prosthetic restorations (inlays/onlays, copings and frameworks, single crowns and fixed partial dentures) on both natural teeth and implants; in addition, they can be used for smile design, and to fabricate posts and cores, removable partial prostheses, obturators, orthodontic aligners and custom made devices. The use of IOS in long-span restorations with natural teeth or implants is still a challenge.