How digital impressions play an important role in clear aligner systems

A recent study by the Levin Group suggests integrating Align’s iTero digital impression technology into an Invisalign practice, digital scanning can almost immediately become a revenue-positive part of your practice.

Intraoral scanning plays its role in CAD/CAM workflow, but let’s also consider this example of the piece of the puzzle a scan can play in creating a digital impression for - as an example - a clear aligner system.

Study sample provided by Align Technology Inc. on Invisalign and iTero overlap

Align Technology Inc. owns a well-deserved reputation as a technology-driven company. Unfortunately, it’s the antiquated PVS impression that shapes many patients’ first impressions of the company.

While digital scanning remains an alternative to PVS, most practices view the digital option as more of a luxury than necessity.

A recent study by the Levin Group, a practice marketing firm out of Baltimore, Md., suggests that integrating Align’s iTero digital impression technology into an Invisalign practice, digital scanning can almost immediately become a revenue-positive part of your practice.

The 2012 study suggests that the ‘wow factor’ associated with the digital scan-along with the benefits of eliminating the unpleasant taste and gagging-can produce an average of two new patient referrals every month, which extrapolates to 24 potential new patient starts each year.

Even after deducting the average per/case lab fees of $1,599, this new patient revenue adds $81,624 a year to the bottom line (assuming $5,000 average per patient revenue). Not bad for a technology that reduces the costs of impression taking while producing a seven-fold reduction in aligner fit issues when compared with the traditional PVS impression.1

It’s something to keep in mind with the lifetime value of a patient increasing each year.

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Products in Practice: iTero in my practice

1. Based on analysis of 400,000+ Invisalign cases