Comparison effectiveness of digital versus conventional impression techniques in children

Today, the advancement of technology affects our daily lives in many ways. As in many fields, there is a shift towards digital in dentistry. Dentistry is open to technological developments in life. Therefore, dentists must adapt to these changes in order to provide the best care to patients. This change towards digital leads to the development of dental impression methods. The aim of this study is to compare conventional and digital impression techniques in pediatric patients with different aspects such as comfort, preference, anxiety level, efficiency and time in pediatric patients. Methods: Digital impressions and conventional impressions were taken from 40 patients aged 6–10 years by the same operator. In the first session, conventional impression procedure was applied to the patients. In the second session, the digital impression procedure was applied and the efficiencies of two different impression techniques were compared. In the study, Wong Baker, FLACC scale, pulse oximetry, stopwatch and 8-question questionnaire were used to compare these two impression techniques. Results: According to the groups, the Wong-Baker scale at the end of the procedure showed a statistically significant difference (p=0.001; p<0.01). Wong-Baker scale of the conventional impression group was higher. FLACC score showed statistically significant difference according to the groups (p=0.003; p<0.01). The average FLACC score of the conventional impression group was found to be higher. According to the groups, the procedure times differ statistically significantly (p=0.001; p<0.01). It was found to be higher in the conventional impression group. Conclusions: It was concluded that the digital impression method was more comfortable and preferable by children compared to the conventional impression method, and there was a significant difference in terms of processing time. Keywords: Children, Digital Impression, Intraoral Scanners, Conventional Impression, Patient Comfort.