Lithia Orthodontist goes digital - WFLA-TV Newschannel 8

A lot of people dread sitting in the dentist's chair. In fact more than 30 million Americans say they have "dental anxiety" and put off those appointments as much as possible. Like most things though, dentistry, is going digital. The new technology makes patients like Mark Justin more comfortable.

Instead of getting traditional goop filled impressions to get fitted for Invisalign, Mark's orthodontist used a scan.

"The impressions are smelly. They're hard to keep in your mouth you gotta stay there forever it seems like," Mark said. "The scan is easy it's quick. It's a snap."

Dr. Busciglio, an orthodontist in Lithia, has two of the $60,000 scanning machines. He says the cutting edge technology has improved his business.

"We've had patients that wouldn't take treatment because they were just horrified of impressions," Busciglio said. "The scan gives people another option."

Dr. Busciglio says patients especially like looking at their teeth on the computer after the scan. The technology shows the mouth how it looks now, and then how it will transform during treatment.

Mark loves seeing how his smile will look when he's all done.

"The only bad part about Invisalign is you have to stay on top of it and put it in," Busciglio said. "But seeing how my teeth will look when I'm done? You get a little more motivated like finally I'm going to get where I want to go."