Revolutionizing Dentistry: How 3D Facial Scanning is Changing the Game Part 1
In this article, Dr. Nazariy shares his expertise on the importance of planning in dentistry and how 3D facial scanning technology, specifically RAYFace, is revolutionizing the field. Learn why 3D facial scanning is superior to 2D photos, and how it enables Dr. Nazariy to create digital avatars of his patients for proper planning of treatment. He also shares his thoughts on the benefits of digital dentistry, and why he believes it's an essential tool for every dentist.
How is 3D facial scanning used in dentistry?
In dentistry, one of the most important things is planning. There is a saying “your final result is as good as your planning”.
Facial scanning gives us the possibility to create digital avatars of our patients.
My dental technicians, usually never see my patients. What they see and what they have is the digital data. We’re able to recreate a digital copy of the patient and share it with our colleagues, dental labs, surgeons, orthodontists, etc. And this gives full freedom and a big pack of information for proper planning of the treatment. Because then we can see the lip position, the rest position, the incisal edge of the patient, we can see if it’s projecting to the lower lip or if they are outside or inside. It guides us on how to design beautiful smiles for our patients.
Why 3D rather than 2D?
There is a progress in the world of dentistry. [There] was the time when the 2D photo was enough.
But the world moves on. The modern technology is [here], [and it’s here to] simplify our work. With 2D photos, we have distortions in the posterior area. But with our 3D scan, we don't have that type of distortion. With the 2D picture, we can plan a maximum of six anterior teeth because what you plan the rest is just a nice drawing on the picture. But if you want to really plan 10 or 12 units, then definitely you need a facial scan because that is realistic.
Dr. Nazariy Leacturing
Why have you chosen RAYFace over other 3D facial scanners?
I tried many different scanners. When it comes to facial scanners, one of the most important things is the time of scanning. The data we want to capture with a facial scanner is the natural smile of the patient. And the natural smile of the patient must be captured in half a second or in a second maximum. This is very important because if you ask a patient to smile for about 30 seconds using a normal scanner, there is no person in the world who can naturally smile for 30 seconds in a row without changing the lip, jaw, and the mandible position. And with RAYFace, we can capture the face scan data in less than 1 second of time. And that means that we can have realistic data when we talk about the natural smile of the patient.
Is there anything you want to tell the readers of Dentistry Today?
We’re all going to use digital workflow sooner or later. And if you ask me, when is the right time to switch to digital? Yesterday. It's not something impossible or something imaginary. It’s an everyday tool that works perfectly. It completely changes the game in dentistry. It brings new possibilities for you today. Why? Because I'm a big fan of working less, and producing more, but I still have time to enjoy life. And this is what digital dentistry gives me.
