Objectives: To evaluate the effect of age and intra-oral scanner (IOS) on the learning curve of inexperienced operators.

Methods: Thirty-four operators pertaining to 1 of 3 groups: (G1) students ≤ 25 years (y), (G2) dentists ≥ 40y, and (G3) a control group of experienced IOS operators (no age limitation), were included. All participants performed baseline and final quadrant scans on a volunteer subject, before and after a training program of 3 sessions, with two different IOS: TRIOS 3 (S1) and True Definition (S2). Baseline and final scanning times were registered in seconds. A Pearson correlation was applied to evaluate the correlation between age and scanning time. An ANOVA of repeated measures test was applied to evaluate inter-group (G1, G2, G3) and inter-system performance. Significance level was set at a = 0.05.

Results: Age and scanning time for inexperienced operators showed a weak positive correlation for final scanning time (r = 0.29, p < 0.05). When comparing groups and filtering by IOS, S1 failed to show differences between groups (p > 0.05). With S2, the control group demonstrated a better performance than G2 (p < 0.05), while G1 only demonstrated a better performance than G2 at final scanning time (p = 0.005). Overall, the type of IOS had a significant impact on the scanning time (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Results from this study indicate that age and type of IOS have an impact on the performance and learning curve of inexperienced IOS operators.

Clinical significance: Gaining knowledge on how different aspects, such as age, experience or IOS system, influence the learning curve to IOSs is relevant due to the financial and strategical impact associated with the acquisition of an IOS.