Intraoral scanner versus conventional impression techniques. Patient satisfaction and other patientreported outcomes: a systematic review

Jon Salazar, Ana Boquete-Castro, Vicente Gimeno, Sidney Kina

Objective: Intraoral scanner impressions are already present for many clinicians. The positive and pleasant patients experience takes special relevance in contemporary dentistry. The purpose of this systematic review was to analyze whether there are any differences in relation to comfort, satisfaction, and preference when patients at the dental office are receiving conventional impressions or digital impressions. Methods: a bibliographic search was carried out in Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Central, and Clinical Trials according to PICO strategy. The data screening was done by two authors. Risk of bias was evaluated using a Cochrane collaboration tool. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO. Results: Initial systematic search found 79 articles. After removing duplicated ones and those that did not meet inclusion criteria, there remained 10 studies. Seven of the included studies showed favorable results with digital impression in relation to comfort, satisfaction, and preference, while two of them showed more favorable results for conventional ones. There was one study that did not show conclusive data between intervention and comparison. Two meta-analyses of subgroups were carried out with four of the articles, according to Brand of the scan and type of randomization. Conclusions: there is a high heterogeneity in methods used in available RCTs. Most of them do not contribute enough information to analyze and integrate statistics. Conclusions should be interpreted cautiously. Current scientific evidence suggests that the perception of patients in relation to comfort, preference, and satisfaction is in favor of intraoral scanners. It is necessary to carry out more RCTs that include patient reported outcome measurements.

Keywords: Intraoral scanner. Digital impression. Patient-reported outcome measures. Satisfaction. Comfort.

How to cite: Salazar J, Boquete-Castro A, Gimeno V, Kina S. Intraoral scanner versus conventional impression techniques. Patient satisfaction and other patient-reported outcomes: a systematic review. J Clin Dent Res. 2020 Sept-Dec;17(3):36-61.

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