Digital versus conventional impression method in children: Comfort, preference and time

Abstract

Background: The comfortness and effectiveness of digital and conventional impression methods in children have not yet been compared. Aim: To assess the digital and conventional impression methods in children in terms of comfort, preference, and the time required to take impressions. Design: Digital impressions were taken by using an intraoral scanner, and conventional impressions were taken by using alginate from 28 patients by the same operator. In each impression-taking-process, comfort was assessed by both the children and the clinician, and the chairside times were written. Student's t tests and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for statistical analyses, and P <.05 was considered to be significant. Results: The digital impression was considered to be more comfortable in the assessments by both the children and the clinician (P <.001). The total time the digital impression took was 465.89 +/- 76.71 second(s) while that of the conventional impression was 450.25 +/- 64.08 s when the chairside times of the two impression methods were compared. There was no statistically significant difference (P =.41). Conclusion: The digital impression method compared with the conventional impression method was found to be both more comfortable and preferable by the children, but there was no difference in terms of the time required to take impressions.