Reliability and validity of intraoral and extraoral scanners

Since the late 1990s, digital models have been the predominant method for orthodontists to evaluate a patient’s occlusal status. While this method has several advantages over using plaster models, the intraoral and extraoral scanners used to produce these digital models must be deemed acceptable by the orthodontic community before being widely used. To do this, practitioners will compare digital models produced using extraoral and intraoral scanners with the direct measurements on plaster models.

For this paper, a Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry orthodontic faculty member, postdoctoral research fellow and predoctoral dental student assessed the digital models from one extraoral and two intraoral scanners to gauge their reliability.

Citation: Jacob H, Wyatt G, Buschang P. Reliability and validity of intraoral and extraoral scanners. Progress in Orthodontics 2015; 16:38. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1186/s40510-015-0108-7