Product Evaluation

For general dentists like Dr. Jay Siddiqui, no 2 days—and often, no 2 patients—are ever the same. In his Chevy Chase, MD, dental practice, Radiant Dental Care, he performs a diverse range of treatments spanning restorative, orthodontic, and both single-tooth and full-arch implant dentistry.

“For my full-arch implant cases, using photogrammetry would require that I buy a whole other $20,000 system,” Dr. Siddiqui explained. This was one of the key reasons he chose to integrate Shining 3D’s Aoralscan Elite—the world’s first plug-and-play system to combine both intraoral scanning and photogrammetry—into his daily workflow.

“The nice thing about the Aoralscan Elite is that I can use it for all my cases—crown and bridge, ortho, and implants,” Dr. Siddiqui said. “And when I need to use the scanner for my full-arch implant cases, it has the intraoral photogrammetry built in, so I can have the accuracy and fi t without having to invest in another piece of equipment.”

Scanning Speed and Accuracy

The slim, lightweight Aoralscan Elite is an advanced intraoral scanner that accurately and efficiently captures detailed scans of patients’ teeth and oral structures, as well as records the position of dental implants for edentulous cases.

Dr. Stephen Schmitt said his favorite features were the scanner’s speed, accuracy, and compact size, while Dr. Brooks Green noted, “It’s a small scanner, but it’s very fast.” Dr. Michael Block explained, “It takes just 5 minutes to scan and meets patient expectations.” Dr. Francis Shin added, “I appreciate the speed of scanning, and I’m also finding edentulous scanning is pretty accurate.”

While Dr. Jesse Hollander experienced some difficulty recording accurate occlusion, Dr. Siddiqui shared, “The form factor is unbeatable, it scans fairly fast, and it is accurate. It also increases my efficiency,” he continued, “as I’m not wasting time trying to take additional scans or aligning other scans. I can skip verification jigs.” Appreciating the Aoralscan Elite’s speed and automatic border correction, Dr. Benjamin Wortham said, “The definition and clarity are ridiculously good. It eliminates a lot of need for post-scan work.”

Photogrammetry Capability

Designed with innovative Intraoral Photogrammetry (IPG) technology, the Aoralscan Elite’s dual functionality enables comprehensive dental imaging for standard and complex procedures, including All-on-X implant cases. It comes with its own set of coded scan flags, with 4 different ScanFlag Kits to choose from, and it allows users to scan for dentulous and edentulous adult and pediatric patients with mini, standard, and IPG tips.

“It’s great to have an affordable option for photogrammetry and intraoral scanning,” explained Dr. Hollander. Recognizing that full-arch implant prostheses pose a multitude of challenges, Dr. Shin said, “The intraoral photogrammetry is a game changer that makes life so much easier.”

“The process of photogrammetry with the flags on multi-units provides perfect accuracy,” Dr. Brent Robinson explained. “The surgery denture gives the lab everything they need for try-in and even the final prosthesis, and I have had perfect fits every time.”

Additionally, Dr. Avi Matha was impressed by the Aoralscan Elite’s “ability to integrate photogrammetry scans like intraoral scans, and also that it’s able to merge/stitch the scans for the lab designer, thus saving almost an hour in designing an immediate temp.”

Ease of Use for All-on-X Cases

Previously seeking to improve his digital All-on-X workflow, Dr. Anthony Osei said using the Aoralscan Elite “improves the speed of execution for All-on-X cases” and that it has “reduced delivery time by 70%.” Dr. Hollander said, “It’s great to be able to do All-on-X in-office,” while Dr. Siddiqui found the Aoralscan Elite to be a critical component during “all my full-arch implant cases. I always get passivity of the prosthesis.”

For Dr. Robinson, the Aoralscan Elite put his challenges with scanning All-on-X cases in the past. “It’s awesome, and it works great,” he remarked. “It saves me a ton of time on All-on-X and verification/try-in.”

“The scan heads are slim for comfort, and the photogrammetry flags are small and precise, which allow us to get a nice scan and STL file for an All-on-X solution within 30 minutes of submission,” Dr. Ron Beech said. “If you want photogrammetry and same-day solutions for all your cases, the Aoralscan Elite is a very convenient and affordable way to get you in the game.”

Overall Satisfaction

With Aoralscan Elite, Dr. Michael Maroon no longer experiences issues making final impressions for full-arch implant cases. “It solved the problem quickly and easily, allowing us to perform intraoral scans as well as photogrammetry with 1 machine,” he said. “It allows me to complete full-arch implant cases with accuracy and confidence in a very timely manner. It’s well worth the price for its features.”

“I was looking for a scanner like this for a long time to simplify a complex digital workflow for full-arch implant cases,” Dr. Matha said. “I bought the Aoralscan Elite mainly for photogrammetry purposes, and because the software aligns the scans before sending it to the lab designer. This scanner turned out to be a no-brainer.”