The new Alliedstar AS 260 intraoral scanner offers an affordable entry into digital impression scanning for dental practices. With fast scan speeds, wired connectivity, and intuitive software, the AS 260 builds on Alliedstar's previous wired scanner the AS 100 with significant upgrades.

Now owned by industry leader Straumann Group, the future looks bright for Alliedstar scanners to continue improving while remaining budget-friendly options for transitioning to digital workflows.

The AS 260 should be applauded as a leading choice for best new iOS scanner of the year based on its impressive features and value.

As the cost of intraoral scanners continues to decrease every year. This category was a hard one to choose.

In 2023, the biggest overachiever award goes to Shining 3D's Aoralscan 3. This was a close call between the Medit i600 and the Aoralscan 3, and the reality is it could have gone either way for these excellent products.

The reason Aoralscan 3 took the award this year was due to the fact that the scanner software has improved significantly over the past 12 months, to the point it now a considerable competitor in the IOS Market. 

Also, it is 2,500 USD cheaper than the Medit i600 at RRP. Great product at a low price and the company also offers 3D printing solution and a face scanner. 

This was another close call between 3Shape and Medit. However year after year, Medit does prove they provide incredible customer support. 

The Medit Users Facebook group is still humming nicely, albeit with the decline of FB groups in general these days. The company has fostered an incredibly supportive community over the years.

The daily problems of their customers are always addressed promptly on this group and I have been impressed with their grace in handling so many questions on there.

The community that Medit has built up has to be one of the most friendly and helpful in the entire industry and this is a reflection of their own company and community support.

With the sale of Medit last year, I do miss the days of seeing Michael Lee in the group interacting with dentists. We will see how it goes for 2024.

Shining 3D is a company that has really impressed us this year. Coming from quite humble beginnings when they released one of their first scanners at IDS 2019 (which was not great), they have now risen up as one of the best intraoral scanner companies on the market.

The Aoralscan 3 is a huge improvement on their previous generation scanners and is quite renowned now in the market for being a great low-cost alternative. 

What really impressed us with this company is that within 12 months they have released a number of products including a wireless scanner, a face scanner and a complete 3D printing solution.

This makes Shining 3D the only company that offers both an intraoral scanner, face scanner and 3D printing solution out of all companies on the market, and we think this positions them very well going into 2024.

If we are looking all the way back to 2022, this award goes to 3Shape TRIOS 5. But to be fair we will award it to a scanner that was actually released in 2023.

And thus, Alliedstar's AS 200E takes the award for best design for last year. 

We were impressed by a number of great scanner design choices with this product - namely, a scanner button on both sides of the scanner which actually turned out to be very convenient to use. Also the huge improvement in build quality and general aesthetics when compared to the predecessor - the AS 100. That seems like a prototype compared to this product.

The other thing that impressed us with the design of the AS 200E is the charging solution. The scanner is a wireless scanner that uses wireless charging in the scanner dock to keep the batteries ready. As long as you have the scanner in the dock, it is charging the batteries. Smart.

It also has a slot where you can put spare batteries in the scanner dock to charge. Because of all of this, there is no need for a separate battery charger.

Overall this felt like a very well thought-out design that impressed us.

The Aoralscan 3 impressed us in many ways. The scanner performance alone is impressive. Then you learn about all the software applications that come with the Aoralscan 3 and the fact that the company makes a great 3D printer which all integrates together. 

There are a lot of low-cost scanners on the market now, and most can be used to scan well enough. The thing that differentiates the Aoralscan 3 is the software. Other scanners in this category have very basic software.

The Aoralscan 3 collection of free software applications are rarely seen in low-cost scanners, and the software works very well overall. This scanner has a level of polish and usability typically seen in much more expensive products.

Another great product to consider if you are on a budget. It is incredible how the price point for intraoral scanners has dropped over the years.

Honorable mention goes to the Runyes 3DS 3.0

Click here to read our review on Shining 3D Aoralscan 3

The Eighteeth Helios 500 is one of the most affordable scanners on the market. A true sign of the times of how far intraoral scanner prices dropped over the years!

Now let me make this clear, is this the best scanner on the market? No. But it fits a niche. Not everyone around the world can afford a TRIOS 5, iTero or even Medit scanner.

And in this light, I like this scanner a lot because it opens up digital dentistry for a wider group of dentists that may be priced out. It doesn't have the best build quality or software, but it works well for basic scans.

I strongly believe every dentist should digitize as its better for our patients and the Helios 500 offers dental practices a digital impression tool at an impressively affordable price point under $9,000 USD.

With fast scan speeds, easy to use (but basic) software, and no recurring fees, the Helios 500 builds on the success of Eighteeth's previous model IOS.

The Runyes 3DS V3 takes home the prize for Most Improved Intraoral Scanner for its significant upgrades over its predecessor model. With faster scan speeds, enhanced software and AI capabilities, and sub-$10k affordability, the Chinese-made Runyes 3DS V3 addresses nearly every shortcoming of the earlier version.

While high zoom reveals some minor detailing issues not impacting accuracy, the 3DS V3 impressively outperforms its price point as an intraoral scanner.

For clinics seeking a budget-friendly digital impression system, Runyes has made remarkable strides toward delivering reliable quality and value with the 3DS V3. Its tremendous improvements certainly warrant this Most Improved award for 2023.

With its acquisition by industry titan Straumann Group, Alliedstar has firmly established itself as the intraoral scanning company to watch this year.

Already known for affordable, high-quality digital impression systems like the AS 200E and AS 260, Alliedstar now has the backing to potentially disrupt the market.

If Straumann utilizes its resources and expertise to build upon Alliedstar's existing scanner technology, we could see significant innovation from this budget-friendly brand as it aims to compete with premium players. Though questions remain about specifics behind the acquisition, Alliedstar's accurate and user-friendly systems position it well for a breakout year.

We believe the potential here merits naming Alliedstar our pick for Rising Star in 2023 as the intraoral scanning landscape continues evolving. Alliedstar has us eagerly anticipating what they have in store.

As always, Medit has been working tirelessly to update their scanner software over the years. Back in November 2020, they released their first few Medit applications. Since then, we now have an entire suite of some of the best digital dentistry apps on the market.

There is simply no other scanner with this many apps available. Smile design, orthodontic simulators, caries communication aids, model builder, and now a full CAD software. All for free.

Most scanners are forced to incorporated some application into their scanner such as an orthodontic simulator, model builder etc.

However Medit is the only scanner software that has absolutely all of them bundled into one software. 

I've previously said "The Medit software is getting closer and closer to becoming a fully fledged CAD software. I look forward to the day that happens." and it has happened. Hard to beat this software.