Guide · Digital workflow
Intraoral scanning for the lab: what we need
How to scan preps, scan bodies, the opposing arch and the bite for your lab, when to send STL or a native file, and the scan errors that lead to remakes.
Short answer
A scan that passes check-in on the first try shows the finish line all the way around, a complete, fully seated scan body, the full opposing arch and a bite aligned on both sides. Export it as STL or in your scanner's native format, which keeps color, and attach it to the portal order with implant brand and platform.
Step by step
- 01
Get the field ready
For subgingival margins, retract the tissue before you scan. Control saliva and bleeding and dry the area; the scanner can't capture what fluid or tissue is covering.
- 02
Scan the prep or implant arch
Follow the scan path your scanner's manufacturer recommends. Capture the adjacent teeth in full and, for multi-unit or full-arch work, the complete arch.
- 03
Seat and scan the scan body
Use the scan body made for that implant system, seated and tightened per the manufacturer. Capture the whole geometry, with no shadows or gaps, on every implant in the case.
- 04
Scan the opposing arch
Scan the full opposing arch. Without it there is no way to set contacts and occlusion in the design.
- 05
Record the bite
With the patient in maximum intercuspation, take a buccal bite scan on both sides. Check in the software that the two arches line up with no visible overlap or gap.
- 06
Review before you export
Rotate the model and look for holes at the margin, an incomplete scan body or a clipped adjacent tooth. Rescanning a section now is cheaper than a case coming back.
- 07
Export and attach to the order
Export as STL, which any software can read, or in your scanner's native format, which keeps color. Attach the files to the portal order with the implant brand and platform and, if you know it, the scan body model.
Before you scan
Check three things. Your scanner is calibrated and its software is up to date; Alkadi’s 2023 review in Diagnostics lists both among the factors that change scan accuracy. The scan body is the one made for the implant system, with no wear or dings. And you have the implant brand and platform, because they go on the order.
Scan-body accuracy depends on more variables than it seems. The 2024 systematic review by Gehrke and colleagues in the International Journal of Implant Dentistry names scan body design, material and color, implant position and spacing, span length, scanner type and technique. Some of that comes with the case; the technique is yours.
Everything else that goes on the order is in our guide to sending a case.
Scan errors that lead to remakes
The first item at check-in is the file: does it open, and is it complete? These are the reasons a scan fails:
- Margin with holes or covered by tissue, saliva or blood. Without a continuous finish line, the margin in the design becomes a guess.
- Scan body with missing geometry or a doubled image, which shifts the implant position in CAD.
- Opposing arch scanned as a quadrant when the case needs the full arch.
- Bite recorded on one side only, or arches visibly overlapping. Mei and colleagues (2022) showed that the bite-scan strategy changes how the virtual casts align.
- Wrong file exported: the prep arch alone, or the pre-op scan instead of the final one.
When a file fails, the case stays at check-in until we get a new scan or a rescanned section. For implant work, our zirconia implant crown page covers what matters most.
Checklist before you send
- Finish line visible and continuous all the way around
- Complete scan body on every implant, with brand and platform on the order
- Full opposing arch
- Bite recorded on both sides and aligned in the software
- Final file exported (STL or native) and attached to the order
- For esthetic cases, shade and a photo with the tab (shade guide)
Related services
Open a portal accountFrequently asked questions
STL or my scanner's native file?
Either works. STL is the universal format but carries no color. A native or PLY file keeps tooth and gingival color, which helps on esthetic cases. A 2026 study of 50 full-arch scans found no difference in geometric accuracy between STL, PLY and OBJ.
Is a scan-body scan as accurate as a conventional impression?
For single units and short spans, the 2024 systematic review by Gehrke and colleagues found accuracy comparable to conventional impressions. For full-arch cases, the authors call for more clinical studies before making a recommendation.
Do I need to retract before scanning?
For subgingival margins, yes. In a 2026 randomized crossover trial, margins scanned without retraction were less defined than conventional impressions; with retraction, both methods captured the margin better.
I don't own a scanner. Can I still go digital?
Yes. Send an impression or stone model and we digitize it at the lab, so design and milling follow the same digital workflow.
Sources
- A systematic review of factors impacting intraoral scanning accuracy in implant dentistry with emphasis on scan bodies · International Journal of Implant Dentistry (2024)
- Factors that influence the accuracy of intraoral scanners (literature review) · Diagnostics (2023)
- Comparison of subgingival finish line reproduction in intraoral scanning versus conventional impressions — a randomized crossover clinical study with/without gingival retraction · The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics (2026)
- Three-dimensional analysis of the outcome of different scanning strategies in virtual interocclusal registration · The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics (2022)
- Mesh quality comparison of common three file formats derived from intraoral scans · Clinical Oral Investigations (2026)
- How to export lab scans in STL/DCM/PLY formats · 3Shape
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