iTero Scanning, No Putty
What the scanner does, what we use it for, where it stops being useful, and why most patients are glad to see the back of the putty tray.
What Happens During an iTero Scan at the Dentist?
A small wand is passed over your teeth for a few minutes while a 3D colour model of your mouth builds on the screen beside you. There's no putty tray, no taste and no radiation, because the scanner uses light. Our Hamilton practice relies on its iTero Lumina for Invisalign plans and previews, as well as crowns, veneers, implant crowns, retainers, night guards and whitening trays, and other dentists can refer patients for a scan at £120.
What You'll Notice in the Chair
Not much, which is rather the point. You lean back and the dentist glides a slim handheld wand along your top teeth, then your bottom teeth, then the outside of your teeth while you bite together. The screen beside you fills in with a coloured, three-dimensional picture of your mouth as it goes. If a patch is missed, the wand just passes over it again.
The tip doesn't need to press on anything, you can swallow or stop for a breather whenever you like, and there's no taste. If you have a strong gag reflex, mention it: the wand only visits the very back teeth briefly. The whole thing usually takes a few minutes.
How the Scanner Works
The iTero Lumina captures a rapid stream of images using light, then software knits them together into an accurate digital model of your teeth and gums. There's no radiation involved, so a scan can be repeated as often as is useful. The finished file goes into your notes and can travel electronically to the dental laboratory or to Invisalign the same day.
See Your Teeth in 3D
Book a free Invisalign consultation, scan and simulation included.
What We Use It For
| Treatment | What the scan does |
|---|---|
| Invisalign | Builds your simulation and the plan your aligners are made from |
| Crowns, onlays and veneers | Gives the laboratory precise data, so less adjusting at fitting |
| Implant crowns | Records the healed implant position for the final tooth |
| Retainers | Captures your finished teeth for Vivera or Essix retainers |
| Night guards | A close-fitting guard for people who clench or grind |
| Whitening trays | Custom trays for home whitening |
| Monitoring | A baseline to compare later scans against for wear, drift or gum recession |
Put simply, almost anything that once meant biting into a tray of putty now means a few minutes with the wand.
Your Invisalign Preview
For most people the memorable part is the simulation. At a free Invisalign consultation with Dr Nikhil Sharma, your scan is turned into a preview of how your teeth could look once treatment is done, shown on a photo of your own face, before you've agreed to anything. It's also how we choose the right package.
Treat the preview as the plan's target, not a promise. Teeth don't all respond in the same way, and how faithfully you wear the aligners makes the biggest difference. 2 The same scan then goes to Invisalign to have your aligners made.
We've held Invisalign Diamond Apex status every year from 2022 to 2026. Align Technology awards it on the number of cases treated, putting us among the top 1% of providers in Europe by volume. It isn't a qualification, but it does mean we scan and plan a lot of aligner cases.
Why Digital Beats Putty
- Comfort. No overfilled tray, no waiting for material to harden, no gagging.
- Accuracy. A rubbery mould can drag or distort on the way out, and the stone cast poured from it can break. A digital file never changes shape, which helps crowns and veneers fit first time.
- Speed. No setting time and no starting again because of a bubble.
- You can see it. We can rotate your teeth on screen, zoom in on a chipped edge or a worn surface, and set this year's scan beside last year's.
- No posting. Files reach the laboratory electronically rather than in a padded envelope.
- Less waste. No single-use trays, putty or plaster.
Scan, X-Ray or CT?
Each one answers a different question. An iTero scan records the outside: the surfaces of your teeth and gums, in colour. That's what's needed to make something fit or to plan tooth movement. It can't see through enamel or under the gum.
X-rays show what the scan can't: decay between teeth, whether an old filling is leaking underneath, and how much bone surrounds each root. Our on-site CT scanner goes further again, building a 3D image of the jawbone, nerve and sinus for implant planning. Often we combine them, planning an implant on CT and making its crown from an iTero scan. The CT scan guide explains when 3D X-ray imaging is worth it.
For Referring Dentists
Colleagues can refer patients to Hamilton for an iTero Lumina scan at £120, whether for aligner planning, restorations or simply records. 1 The 3D colour scan files come back to the referring dentist within 48 hours, and the patient returns to you for their care. We only carry out what you've asked for. The referrals page has the form.
Patients don't need a referral to have a scan here. It's part of every free consultation for Invisalign, bonding or veneers.
Questions
This guide is general information, not a diagnosis. A dentist needs to examine you to say what is right for your teeth.