iTero

The iTero Procedure

Let’s face it, very few of us have perfect teeth, free of decay and fillings. You can probably see a filling or two in your own mouth, which do just that — “fill” a cavity, or hole, in your tooth left from the excavation of decayed tooth structure. In many cases, those fillings are made of metal material and can go bad, weaken the tooth, or get additional decay under or around it. In fact, 1.2 billion of these metal fillings wil need to bereplaced in the next 10 years.

Exam and Preparation

First, your Dentist examines the tooth and determines the appropriate treatment. It could be a simple filling or a full crown, depending on how much healthy tooth structure is remaining and the clinical judgement of your Dentist. Next, he or she administers an anethetic and prepares your tooth for the restoration, removing decayed and weakened tooth tissue. This preparation is just like he or she would do for many other restorative techniques.

iTero “Optical” Impression

Then, your Dentist takes an Optical Impression of the prepared tooth. Instead of filling a tray with impression “goop” that you must bite into and hold in your mouth until it hardens, your Dentist uses a camera to take a digital picture of your tooth. This whole Optical Impression takes only a minute or two.

iTero Acquisition Unit

The iTero Acquitiion Unit is mobile and houses a medical grade comprter and the iTero camera. Your dentist uses the camea to take a series of digital pictures of your prepared tooth. This picture is used instead of a traditional impression. This means no impression tray and material for you to gag on. The computer and iTero software converts the digital picture to athree-dimensional virtual model of your prepped tooth which in turn generates a model that a laboratory technician can fabricate whatever restoration you and your dentist have decided upon.