Development of computational thinking for dental students in the use of the intraoral impressions’ technique

Abstract

The accuracy of intraoral impressions is critical for making well-fitting restorations. The possibility of digitalizing the patient's mouth has once been intended for Dentistry, however, the accuracy of dental impressions for different clinical applications is still resisted by professionals. Thus, the understanding of Dentistry students can facilitate the use of the digital technique. The aim of this study was to develop the computational thinking of dentistry students for the use of the intraoral impressions’ technique. Information was collected through searches in Pubmed, Scielo, Scopus, Lilacs and Google Scholar databases using the words "digital printing", "dimensional impression accuracy", "dental impression technique", "intraoral scanner" and "Dentistry digital" in Portuguese or English. Factors such as temperature variation, time period between casting and molding, plaster surface wettability and disinfection procedures may result in material distortion and affect accuracy. Patients commonly report greater comfort when using digital impression techniques and less impression than for conventional impression techniques. Based on this literature review, the intraoral scanning over the years will replace the conventional impression, as it is currently a reliable method, and as accurate as the conventional impression, being in some cases even more precise, in addition to offering greater comfort to the dentist and patient; thus, it is extremely important for dental students to incorporate the computational use of this technique into their learning.