The ease and comfort of digital technology say bye, bye to goopy impressions!

Technological advancements in dentistry support many of the fundamental principles of our practice in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Advanced tools like digital impressions promote a safe, precise, gentle, non-invasive, pleasant, accurate, and efficient experience at Westlake Family Dentistry.

The “basics”

Impressions refer to molds or models of your mouth. These models are used for many different dental treatments, including guiding the design and fabrication of restorations such as crowns and veneers. Traditionally, these molds have been made using manual processes. A putty-like material is used to create the impression. Patients often don’t like the taste of the material. It’s messy. And it can be challenging to take impressions using this process when patients have a bad gag reflex. Also, it can be time-consuming. Patients have to wait for the putty to “set.”

Our dentist, Dr. Brad Sievert, knew there was a better way! He has invested in sophisticated scanner systems. These technologies allow us to non-invasively “scan” your mouth using a handheld, wand-like device. Using proprietary software, the scans are transformed into 3-dimensional models of your mouth. That is where the “digital” part comes into play. These impressions can be created in a couple of minutes, which is a fraction of the time associated with preparing and making traditional goopy impressions.

There are several advantages associated with our digital approach to this standard dental service:

  • Comfort – The scanner is “light-touch”; there is no need to use messy, goopy, and foul-tasting impression materials.
  • Fast – As noted, we can scan the entire mouth in moments. It can take 20 minutes to make impressions the “traditional” manual way.
  • Accurate – As with other digital technologies, intraoral scanners eliminate common human errors. Accurate impressions further support diagnostics that you can trust, and effective treatment, and better outcomes.
  • Convenient – If more scans need to be taken and adjustments made, “re-dos” are much easier in the digital realm than with conventional techniques.
  • Planet-friendly – These technologies reduce waste. And our practice takes pride in being responsible environmental stewards.

Additionally, we like being able to show (rather than tell) our patients about what is lurking in their mouths. Digital impressions and scanning allow us to pull up very detailed and clear images of their mouths on a monitor. We can share these images with our patients and review the scans with them. This approach allows you to be better informed and actively involved with their treatment and oral health.

Digital impressions may be in your future. Call us today at (503) 386-4164 to schedule your appointment in Lake Oswego.