Radiant Smiles scans teeth digitally with iTero and TRIOS scanners. A small wand takes a few thousand photographs of your teeth in about ninety seconds. There is no tray, no impression material, and nothing to gag on while it sets.
NEEDS SIGN-OFF K-07 Claims about the practice — iTero / TRIOS scanners — no impression trays. Approve as written, or give the correction.
Patients who remember the old way tend to mention this before they mention anything else — which tells you a good deal about the alternative.
What the old way was actually like
A tray of thick, cold putty pressed hard against the roof of your mouth and held there for several minutes while it set.
You could not swallow properly. You could not speak. If you have a strong gag reflex, you spent the entire time fighting it — and a meaningful number of people simply could not do it at all, which meant they could not have the crown, the denture or the aligners they needed.
And then, quite often, it had to be done twice, because a bubble in the material or a slight movement had ruined it and nobody knew until the laboratory said so.
That was not a failure of the dentist. It was the state of the art, and it was unpleasant for everybody.
What a scan is
A wand about the size of a large electric toothbrush passes over your teeth, photographing continuously from every angle. The images assemble themselves into a three-dimensional model on a screen beside you, in real time — you can watch your own teeth appear.
Ninety seconds. Nothing in your mouth but a smooth wand. No taste, no setting, no gagging.
If you need a break, we stop, and it picks up exactly where it left off — which is something a tray of setting putty could never do.
The part that matters more than the comfort
A scan can be shown to you.
This is the change that most affects the actual dentistry, and hardly anyone talks about it. Your teeth appear on a monitor, in colour, magnified, and they can be turned around and pointed at.
Which means that when I tell you a tooth needs a crown, I can show you why — the crack, the thin wall, the failing margin under a filling from 2004. You are not taking my word for it. You are looking at it.
It is much easier to agree to treatment you have actually seen than treatment you have merely been told about. And it is much easier to decline it, which is equally the point.
Where scanning is used
Crowns and bridges — a scan sent straight to the laboratory, with no distortion introduced by material that shrinks slightly as it sets.
Clear aligners — the scan builds the treatment plan, and you see a simulation of the final result before you pay for anything. Nothing in traditional orthodontics offered that.
Night guards and sports mouthguards — and this is where it matters most with children, who will simply refuse a tray.
[Dentures](/dentures-bridgeport), including the try-in stage.
And tracking change over time. Scans stack. A scan today compared against one from three years ago shows exactly how much a tooth has worn, or how far a gum has receded — which turns "your teeth look a bit worn" into a measurement.
Is it more accurate?
Yes, generally — and more consistently so, which matters more.
A traditional impression could be excellent in skilled hands. It could also be distorted by material shrinkage, a bubble, or a patient who moved. The failure was invisible until the restoration did not fit, and by then you had been through the whole thing once already.
A scan flags gaps immediately, on screen, while you are still sitting there. If a section is missing, we rescan that section, and it takes ten seconds.
Questions people ask
Does it hurt?
No. The wand touches your teeth. That is all.
What if I have a strong gag reflex?
This is precisely the group for whom this changed everything. Breathe through your nose, and tell us — we take it in sections and stop whenever you need. Most people who could never tolerate a tray manage a scan without difficulty.
Is there radiation?
No. It is a camera. X-rays are separate, and taken only when there is a reason.
Can I see the scan?
Yes, and you should ask to. It is on the screen next to you.
Does it cost more than a traditional impression?
NEEDS SIGN-OFF K-18 Claims about the practice — Custom mouthguards / night guards from a scan. Approve as written, or give the correction.
It should not. It is faster, it needs no materials, and it does not have to be redone.
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Whether it is a crown, a night guard or clear aligners, the scan takes ninety seconds and there is nothing to gag on. Call (203) 372-0881.
Educational, not a diagnosis.
