Comparing Intraoral Scanners: Which Offers the Best Value for Your Dental Practice?

Dentists and dental professionals are increasingly shying away from messy and uncomfortable traditional dental impressions in favor of intraoral scanners that allow for the capture of impressions digitally.

Intraoral scanners, which capture detailed digital surface scans of dental anatomy, are quick, easy to use, and do not emit X-rays. They can improve workflow efficiency, save time, and improve patient comfort. However, with a wide variety of brands at a range of price points, it can be difficult to decide which scanner will be best for your practice based upon performance, features and overall value.

In this article, we’ll take a look at three leading intraoral scanners and see how they stack up.

The Comparison Criteria

Every day, our team works with practices just like yours to help dentists and dental specialists find the best imaging technologies that fit their clinical needs. We do a lot of listening, so we’ve heard quite a bit of feedback from practices with regard to what features and benefits they want in an intraoral scanner. Speed, ease of use, and cost are consistent priorities for the majority of the practices we speak with. So, we’ve taken three top brands and outlined their various strengths and weaknesses across these categories. Let’s start with the Planmeca Emerald S.

Planmeca Emerald S: Fast and Lightweight

The Planmeca Emerald S intraoral scanner is Planmeca’s latest version of the Emerald with updated hardware and software. Most dentists we speak with mention the speed of the Planmeca Emerald S as its best feature, along with its native integration with Planmeca’s Romexis software.

At only 8.29 ounces, the Emerald S is lightweight and ranks near the top of the chart for intraoral scanning speeds. The Emerald S is able to capture a full arch scan in under a minute and boasts great accuracy as well.

As for the negatives, cost is the major feedback here, as the Emerald S is a more expensive option on the market. You can expect to pay between $22,000 and $24,000 for a new Emerald S scanner, but it does not incur any export or storage fees.

Carestream CS 3700: Versatility With Powerful Software

When it comes to Carestream’s CS 3700 scanner, dentists we speak with seem to really like the software. Carestream’s user-friendly CS ScanFlow software provides a high level of functionality, including expanded processing options, touchscreen capabilities, Smart Shade matching that automatically detects enamel color, and one-click exporting.

While the Carestream CS 3700 is not the fastest intraoral scanner on the market, it is significantly faster than its predecessor, the CS 3600. It’s capable of capturing single arch scans in a little over a minute.

Again, price is the main negative we hear from dentists regarding the CS 3700. As with the Planmeca Emerald S, The CS 3700 is priced on the higher end of the spectrum, coming in between $20,000 to $22,000 for a new unit. The CS3700 does not require a monthly subscription.

iTero Element® Flex Foundation: Innovative Design with Dedicated Support & Integration

From the beginning, our company has always been very selective about which products we choose to offer, preferring to work with brands that really deliver great performance to go with our obsessive level of customer service. For intraoral scanners, we offer the iTero Element Flex® Foundation Certified Pre-Owned intraoral scanner because it delivers an affordable entry to practice digitization without compromise on features. Its combination of its award-winning iTero cloud software, portable and flexible design, and dedicated iTero support and integration team make this intraoral scanner a compelling option that offers incredible value to dentists and dental specialists.

Some dentists and dental specialists we speak with are surprised to learn the iTero Element Flex Foundation features an award-winning iTero restorative platform, making it ideal for restorative use. The iTero cloud software helps you scan, store, share and export patient scans as well as visualize and communicate patient conditions and recommended treatment options. Export your STL files to just about any lab or third party application.

With open lab connectivity, the MyiTero platform makes iTero scans available within minutes and allows for export to the CAD software of your choice. This helps you create digital workflows that are efficient and predictable with open scan files and chairside milling capabilities.

The iTero Element Flex Foundation is fast, accurate, and lightweight. A scan takes less than 1 minute per arch, capturing anatomically accurate, high-resolution scans - up to 25 microns for a single arch, allowing for easy distinction between hard and soft tissues. The iTero Element Flex Foundation has a portable design to easily move and share the scanner between operatories for even greater flexibility.

The iTero Element Flex Foundation also utilizes a small wand tip, with an innovative design that allows the operator to scan by touching the scanning region directly, compared to most other intraoral scanner brands which require the operator to hover over the scanning region. This improves patient comfort and enhances the user’s freedom of movement when capturing scans.

Another feature that distinguishes the iTero Element Flex Foundation from other intraoral scanners on the market is their dedicated iTero support and integration teams. Each purchase and activation with iTero, both new and Certified Pre-Owned, helps your practice digitization with a dedicated team of service and support staff. This covers 100% repair or replacement of defective parts at no additional cost during the service term. Plus, iTero provides self-paced learning, interactive courses, videos, and other customized instructional support. This level of attention to your practice’s success with intraoral scanning and digitization is unparalleled by the other intraoral scanners listed in this article.

Renew Digital is proud to be an authorized distributor of the iTero Certified Pre-Owned program. When you purchase an iTero Element Flex Foundation Certified Pre-Owned intraoral scanner through Renew Digital, our price starts at just $9,995 (including a laptop), providing comparable performance to a new unit in the same model. Plus, your purchase has no recurring costs, with software, subscription and warranty included for a full year.

The Renew Digital Difference

Our years of experience in dental imaging help us connect dental practices with affordable, cutting-edge technologies that improve patient care, offering a wide selection of certified pre-owned digital x-ray and intraoral scanning systems, with savings from 30% to 50% off the price of new units. Each purchase of an intraoral scanner from Renew Digital comes with remote support in order to ensure you get the most from your investment.

If you have any questions or want to learn more, please contact us or give us a call at 888-246-5611.