Guide · Working with the lab
How to send a case to the lab
How to submit a case through our dentist portal, what to include for digital and analog cases, and the missing details that stall a case at check-in.
Short answer
Create an account on our dentist portal at app.smiledigitallab.com.br and wait for the lab to approve it. From then on, each case is an order: pick the services from your price list, attach the scan or send the model, specify shade, material and implant details, identify the patient by initials only, and follow every stage in the portal.
Step by step
- 01
Create your dentist portal account
Go to app.smiledigitallab.com.br and sign up. We review and approve the account, and from then on the services on your practice's price list are available to order.
- 02
Open an order and pick the services
Each case is one order. Choose the services from your price list, such as a zirconia implant crown or a diagnostic wax-up, and list the teeth. We use FDI notation, so Universal #30 is tooth 46.
- 03
Identify the patient by initials or chart number only
Use the patient's initials or the chart number your practice already uses. Full name, ID numbers, phone and records the case doesn't need stay out of the order.
- 04
Attach the scan or get the model ready to send
For digital cases, attach the intraoral scan file (STL or your scanner's native format) with the opposing arch and bite registration. For analog cases, prepare the impression or stone model, opposing model and bite registration, cleaned and disinfected, and arrange with our team how it gets to the lab.
- 05
Specify shade, material and implant details
Record the shade from the guide (A2, BL3, 2M2) and the material. For implant cases, give the implant brand and platform, and send the impression coping or analog with analog impressions. For esthetic cases, attach a smile photo with the shade tab in frame; for guided cases, note the surgical guide used.
- 06
Include a signed prescription
The prescription goes in signed, with your license number. If you want to approve the design before production, say so on the order.
- 07
Check the turnaround and follow the phase
Each service shows its turnaround in business days in the portal before you submit, and the promised date is recorded on the case. If you need it sooner, ask for a rush. Then follow the case's phase in the portal, from arrival to delivery.
Before you start
You need an approved portal account and a case where the clinical decisions are already made: teeth, material, shade and, for implants, brand and platform. We build what the treatment plan calls for; we don’t pick the material or the shade for you.
Patients are identified by initials or chart number. Brazil’s LGPD, the data protection law we operate under, classes health data linked to a person as sensitive and limits processing to what the purpose requires (art. 5 II and art. 6 III). A crown can be milled without a name.
Digital or analog?
A digital case arrives with the file attached and goes straight to check-in. Our intraoral scanning guide covers how to capture margins, scan bodies, the opposing arch and the bite so the file passes on the first try.
For an analog case, the impression or model has to be cleaned and disinfected before it leaves your office. In Brazil, Anvisa’s RDC 1.002/2025 requires dental labs to run a receiving protocol that documents the practice did this before sending (art. 175).
What stalls a case
Every case goes through check-in when it arrives: the file opens and is complete, the teeth are identified, shade and material are specified, and the implant component is in stock. If one item fails, the case waits there until you answer. The usual culprits:
- No opposing arch or bite registration, so occlusion can’t be set in the design.
- Prep margin or scan body cut off in the scan.
- Implant platform wrong or missing on the order.
- Shade given without a guide value (“match the adjacent tooth”), or a photo without the shade tab in frame. Our shade guide shows how to record it.
- No signed prescription.
This is a common gap. In a survey of dental technicians published in the Journal of Indian Prosthodontic Society (2020), technicians reported that pontic design, staining maps and margin type made it onto the work authorization in only 25% to 50% of cases.
Checklist before you send
- Patient identified by initials or chart number only
- Teeth in FDI notation, services picked from your price list
- Scan with opposing arch and bite, or a disinfected impression
- Shade from the guide and material specified
- Implant brand and platform (plus impression coping or analog for analog cases)
- Photo with shade tab (esthetic cases) and surgical guide used (guided cases)
- Signed prescription with license number
Related services
Open a portal accountFrequently asked questions
Do I need an account to send a case?
Yes. Orders are placed in the dentist portal, which opens once we approve your sign-up. With an approved account you see your price list, track cases stage by stage, and check your practice's invoices and statement.
Can I put the patient's name on the order?
Please don't. Use initials or your chart number. We work under Brazil's data protection law (LGPD), which treats health data linked to a person as sensitive personal data, and we don't need a name to make a crown.
I still take conventional impressions. Can I send those?
Yes. Send the impression or stone model, the opposing model and a bite registration, cleaned and disinfected before they leave your office.
How is turnaround set?
Each service shows its turnaround in business days in the portal before you submit, and the promised date is recorded on the case. A case that needs to be ready sooner can go in with a rush fee.
Sources
- Lei nº 13.709/2018, Brazilian General Data Protection Law (LGPD), art. 5 II and art. 6 III · Presidency of Brazil
- Resolução RDC nº 1.002 (December 15, 2025), good practice rules for dental services and dental laboratories, art. 175 · Anvisa (Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency)
- A study to assess communication hindrances by the means of work authorization for fixed dental prosthesis — a survey · Journal of Indian Prosthodontic Society (2020)
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