# Validated Questionnaire on Intraoral Scanner Effectiveness in Paediatric Patients
## 1 Introduction  
In recent years, the world of dentistry has undergone radical changes thanks to the introduction of digital technology into clinical activity. Among the positive contributions that this progress offers to patients is greater comfort in terms of speed, efficiency and safety [1]. The intraoral scanner is an important innovation in the world of dentistry, able to transform and digitize conventional workflows. The 3D scanner projects a light source (structured light or laser) onto the surface of the object to be analyzed, which, with the help of several micro cameras, captures the deformation of the object and reconstructs it as a virtual model directly on the screen [2] without the use of conventional impression materials. The intraoral scanner used in this study will be iterated; this restorative scanner (Align Technologies, San Jose, CA, USA) is the only intraoral digital scanner that usesparallel confocal imaging technology and \"point-and-stitch\" reconstruction to generate precise and dust-free fingerprints. The images are accessible for observation to the dental unit in 2 min of intraoral scanning; they can then be sent to Align technology via the Internet, where they are converted into STL files and made accessible for download within 48 h [3]. The advantages of using the intraoral scanner are numerous: superior patient comfort, ease of use for the clinician, immediate verification of the recording quality of three-dimensional images of dental arcades, the speed with which they can be sent to the laboratory [4] and a significant improvement in dental communication with the patient, resulting in increased patient compliance. Optical impression is a powerful tool for patient communication and marketing. In fact, with optical impressions, patients feel more involved in their treatment and it is possible to establish more effective communication with them; this emotional involvement may have a positive impact on the overall treatment, for example, by improving patient compliance to oral hygiene. In addition, patients are interested in the technology and mention it to their acquaintances and friends, raising their consideration of dental centers equipped with these modern technologies. Indirectly, IOS has become a very powerful advertising and marketing tool [5]. By \"communication\", we mean all those procedures, both verbal and non-verbal, in which the operator, through their skills and the help of precise tools, in a personalized manner, is able to transmit information concerning the patient's state of health so that they will understand all the indications received [1]. Ineffective communication will be the primary cause of errors and non-cooperation [6]; effective communication, on the other hand, will allow us not only to convey a message but also to safely manage patients with particular needs. In the case of an adult patient, we are faced with a communicative \"binomial\", in which only the operator and the subject under treatment will exist [7]. The following study will focus on the pediatric patient, who, unlike the adult, will follow a different communication pattern involving three participants: the operator, the patient and the patient's parents [8]. By virtue of this three-way communication, the operator must take a further step that will lead the communication strategy to branch in two directions: the first will be towards the pediatric patient and the second towards the parents who will play a fundamental role in the success and acceptance of the proposed treatment to the small patient. For successful medical treatment, it will be essential that the child, but also the adult, feel comfortable, and that they are in a position to receive the indications from the dentist and orthodontist [9]. The purpose of this study will be to investigate how digital dentistry, through the use of the intraoral scanner, can interact in the communicative trinomial dentist-pediatric patient-parents and how this tool can be useful in communicating and understanding the received message.