· 7 min
When we talk about digital dentistry we mean something fairly concrete: replacing the manual steps of a dental treatment (the paste impression, the plaster model, the hand-waxed crown, the measurement by eye) with records and designs made on a computer. We are Drs. Pablo Atria and Camila Sampaio, and at AS Odontología Digital we have worked this way from day one. In this guide we explain which tools make up that workflow, what you notice as a patient at each stage, what does not change even though the technology is new, and how to tell whether a clinic really works digitally or simply bought a scanner.
Conventional dentistry depended on physical copies. To make a crown, the dentist took a silicone impression, sent it to the laboratory, where it was poured in plaster, and the technician shaped the crown on that mold. Each step copied the one before it, and each copy could add a small error.
In a digital workflow, your mouth is captured once, in three dimensions, and that capture travels as a file. Diagnosis, planning, design and fabrication all happen on that file. A person does the design in software; a machine does the fabrication by following that design. There are fewer intermediate steps, fewer handoffs, and a record you can measure, compare, and reopen months later.
Digital dentistry is a way of working. A digital crown is a crown; an implant planned on a computer is an implant. What changes is how you get to the result and how much of that path is documented.
These are the ones we use every day in the clinic. Several have their own article if you want to go deeper; here is the essential part of each.
A camera about the size of a thick pen that moves over your teeth and builds a 3D model on the screen while you watch. It replaces the silicone impression: no tray, no paste, no waiting for it to set with your mouth open. In the clinic we use the iTero 5D. If you want the details of how it works, we cover them in our article on the intraoral scanner.
A three-dimensional X-ray. Instead of a flat image, we get a volume that shows bone thickness and height, the path of the nerves, and the position of the sinuses. It is the basis for implant planning and for diagnoses a conventional X-ray cannot resolve. We have it in the clinic, so it is taken during the same visit when it is needed.
CAD means designing on a computer; CAM means fabricating from that design. With the scan on screen, the crown, veneer or inlay is designed in Exocad on your own anatomy, and then a milling unit (in our case the Primemill, inside the clinic) carves the piece from a block of ceramic or zirconia. For single crowns and inlays or onlays, when the case allows it, that means the restoration can be placed the same day. We do not promise it for every case; we decide tooth by tooth. More on this in what a dental crown looks like today and on our same-day CAD/CAM restorations page.
The 3D printer produces in resin what the software designed: study models, surgical guides and provisionals. Having it in the clinic shortens the distance between planning something and holding it in your hand.
With the CT scan and the intraoral scan superimposed, the exact position of each implant is planned: angle, depth, its relationship to the nerve and to the tooth that will sit on top of it. That plan is printed as a guide that rests on your teeth and directs the drill during surgery. In the clinic these surgeries are led by Dr. Pablo Atria, director of the Operative and Digital Dentistry fellowship at NYU College of Dentistry. The full process is in our guide to guided implant surgery.
For Invisalign, the scan becomes a simulation (ClinCheck) that shows tooth-by-tooth movement before the first aligner is made. Dr. Camila Sampaio, an Invisalign Diamond Provider, reviews and adjusts every plan. We explain it in what the ClinCheck is and how it is planned.
Diagnosis. You see what we see. The scan and the CT are on screen during the consultation, and it is far easier to understand a crack or bone loss when you have it in front of you in 3D than when someone describes it to you.
Planning. The plan is built on your real record, not on an average. For implants, you see before surgery where each one will go. For orthodontics, you see the movement before you start. For a veneer or a crown, the proposed shape is designed on your own scan and can be simulated before the tooth is touched.
Fabrication. Fewer visits and less waiting. When the piece is designed and milled in the clinic, you skip the trip to the laboratory and the temporary in between. When the laboratory is still needed (extensive cases, certain materials), it receives a file instead of a mold and works on the same design we approved with you.
Follow-up. Your mouth is stored as a file. At each check-up we can compare today's scan with the one from a year ago and see wear, gum recession or tooth movement with measurements rather than from memory.
Comfort. There is no paste in your mouth. For many people with a strong gag reflex, that one detail completely changes the experience of going to the dentist.
This is worth saying clearly, because the word digital sometimes promises more than it can deliver.
Clinical judgment still decides. The software proposes; a trained person decides whether that crown needs more thickness, whether that implant is a good idea, or whether it is better to do nothing for now. A poorly reasoned plan in 3D is still a poorly reasoned plan.
Biology does not speed up. Bone around an implant takes the same time to integrate, gums heal at their own pace, and a tooth moved with aligners needs the time it needs. The technology organizes the process; the biological timelines stay the same.
Hygiene is yours. A precisely milled crown can still be lost to decay at the margin if it is not cleaned. No scanner replaces the brush, the floss and the check-ups.
The conversation is still human. The screen helps explain, but the decision about your treatment is made by talking it through with you.
Many clinics now own an intraoral scanner. That is a good start, and at the same time it is only the first piece. A complete digital workflow shows in other things. These are questions you can ask without any awkwardness:
Where is the restoration designed and made? If the scan is sent to a laboratory that does everything else, the clinic has digitized the impression and nothing more. If they design and mill in the clinic, the workflow is complete for that type of case.
Are implants planned on a CT scan, with a printed guide? If the guide is used only sometimes or never, the surgery is freehand.
Do they show you the plan on screen before starting? A real digital workflow produces a visible plan. You should be able to see it and ask questions about it.
Who does the design? A dentist who works in the design software, and not only with the scanner, makes a difference in how decisions about your tooth are made.
Is there a CT scanner in the clinic, or are you referred out? Both are valid, but having it in-house shortens timelines and avoids an extra visit.
None of these questions is out of place. A clinic that works this way is glad to answer them.
The iTero 5D scanner, cone beam CT, Exocad design, Primemill milling unit and 3D printer are all under one roof in Vitacura. That lets diagnosis, planning and a good part of fabrication happen in the clinic, with us. We both come from teaching at NYU College of Dentistry, and that way of working (record, measure, document, review) is the one we apply with every patient. If you want to see the equipment in detail, start with the intraoral scanner page.
If you are visiting for the first time, what you will notice is simple: no paste in your mouth, your mouth on a screen, and a plan you can see before you decide.
If this article left you with questions, explore the related services or book an evaluation at AS Odontología Digital in Vitacura.
It is a way of working in which the records of your mouth (3D scan, CT) are used directly to diagnose, plan and fabricate on a computer, instead of going through paste impressions and plaster models. The treatments are the same; what changes is how you get to them and how much is documented.
It has fewer manual steps, and each manual step was a chance for error. It also leaves records that can be measured and compared. But final accuracy depends on who designs and decides: the software does not choose the thickness of a crown or the correct position of an implant. A good digital workflow in good hands is more predictable; clinical judgment still decides.
Scanning is more comfortable than a paste impression, especially if you have a strong gag reflex. In guided surgery, planning ahead usually allows a shorter and less invasive procedure. What does not change is the anesthesia or the normal recovery period of each treatment.
An intraoral scanner, cone beam CT, CAD design software, a milling unit or 3D printer for fabrication, and planning software for implants and orthodontics. At AS Odontología Digital we use the iTero 5D, in-clinic CBCT, Exocad, a Primemill milling unit and 3D printing.
No. Single crowns and inlays or onlays can be placed the same day when the case allows it. Extensive cases or certain materials still go through a laboratory, and sometimes waiting is the better clinical choice. It is decided tooth by tooth.
Ask where the restoration is designed and made, whether implants are planned on a CT scan with a printed guide, and whether they show you the plan on screen before starting. Owning a scanner is only the first step.
Yes, in the vast majority of cases. The intraoral scanner builds a 3D model of your mouth in minutes, with no tray and no paste, and that model is what is used to design and fabricate.
