RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Over the past 20 years, there have been many innovations in orthodontic diagnosis and therapy. Among the innovations, there is the taking of dental impressions (DIs). Dental impressions are the negative imprint of hard and soft tissues of one or both arches, and they allow a plaster model to be formed, i.e., a positive reproduction. Traditional dental impressions can be made of different materials, such as alginate, while digital impression is captured by an intra-oral scanner. Digital impression, despite the evident advantages, has not yet replaced the conventional impression. The aim of this study is to evaluate which dental impressions are the most used by dentists. For this purpose, we considered 120 questionnaires sent electronically to patients of different dental private practices from different countries, where the dentists can use both techniques. The results highlighted that the kind of impression adopted is very much influenced by the type of therapy and orthodontic devices used in the treatment. We can conclude that, despite the advent of digital technology, conventional impressions are still used for fixed devices, while digital impressions are more adopted for orthodontic customized devices and therapies with clear aligners, that are very widespread among adult patients.
RESUMEN
Dental caries is one of the most common diseases in the world, and global incidence rates are increasing. The early detection of dental lesions enables a conservative approach to be employed and represents a priority in modern dentistry. Recent studies have suggested that conventional diagnostic methods, such as visual tactile inspection and X-ray examination, exhibit low sensitivity and are not very effective in early diagnoses. Consequently, late detection of decay is associated with an increased loss of tooth structure. New diagnostic systems based on optical properties have been developed to facilitate early detection. Several studies have evaluated the performance of near-infrared imaging (NIRI) as an early diagnostic tool. NIRI using light ranging from 700 to 1700 nm has demonstrated better optical properties compared to conventional optical systems using light in the visible spectra. NIRI enables deeper penetration of the light in the tooth tissue, weak scattering with lower background noise and strong photon absorption with detailed images. Several in-vivo studies have demonstrated that NIRI technology has the potential to improve performance compared with current diagnostic methods. NIRI exhibits increased sensitivity compared to radiographs and is more suitable to identify approximal enamel lesions. This paper aimed to review these recent advances and their potential applications in daily clinical practice.