An intraoral scanner dental workflow lets you send us a digital impression instead of a poured model. We accept scans from 3Shape, Medit, iTero and Dexis, and this guide covers scan quality, scan bodies and file formats.
This guide is written for dentists who scan and send cases to a lab. If you are moving your whole restorative pipeline to digital, start with our digital dental lab overview and treat this page as the chairside scanning detail.
What a Digital Impression Sends Us
An intraoral scanner captures the prepared tooth, the adjacent and opposing dentition and the soft tissue as a 3D surface mesh. Instead of a physical impression and a poured stone model, we receive a digital impression file that we open directly in our CAD software.
For us the scan is the master record. There is no model to chip, no impression to distort in transit and no shipping delay. A clean scan also means we can start design the day it arrives rather than waiting on a poured and trimmed model.
- Geometry: the margin, the prep walls and the occlusal clearance we read straight from the mesh.
- Antagonist: an opposing scan so we can build the occlusion to your bite, not an average.
- Bite: a buccal bite scan in maximum intercuspation to lock the arches together.
If you still take conventional impressions for some cases, see our guide to conventional impressions and trays.
Scanners We Accept: 3Shape, Medit, iTero and Dexis
We work with the main scanners in UK practices and do not ask you to change hardware. Whatever system you already run, the export is what matters to us, not the badge on the wand.
- 3Shape: TRIOS scans reach us through 3Shape Communicate or as an exported file. Send the case to our lab account or attach the export.
- Medit: i-series scans come via Medit Link as a shared case or as an exported mesh. Medit Link sharing keeps the colour scan and the bite together.
- iTero: Element scans route through MyiTero to a connected lab, or you can export where your account allows it.
- Dexis: Dexis IS scans export from the cloud portal or directly from the unit.
If you are unsure how your system exports, send us one test case and we will confirm the route before you build it into your routine. The first case is on us, up to £100, with no invoice and no contract.
What Makes a Scan We Can Use
Scanner trueness is rarely the limiting factor. The limiting factor is what the wand can see. A scan we can use is one where the full finish line is visible and uninterrupted all the way round the prep.
- Clean margin: retract and dry so the finish line reads as a sharp edge, not a soft blur into the sulcus.
- No tissue overlap: keep the cheek, tongue and gingiva off the prep while you scan that segment.
- Dry field: saliva, blood and water pooling drop trueness in the wet area, so isolate before that pass.
- Full coverage: scan two teeth either side of the prep and the opposing segment so we have context for the contacts.
Where the scan is broken, rescan only the missing patch rather than starting again. That is the main chairside advantage of going digital, and it keeps the mesh clean instead of stitching over a soft area.
Subgingival Margins and the Limits of Scanning
An intraoral scan only records what light reaches. A margin sitting below the gingiva, hidden by fluid or by bleeding, will not capture, and no software can rebuild a finish line the camera never saw. This is the single most common reason a digital impression comes back to us unreadable.
- Retraction: open the sulcus with cord or paste so the margin is exposed before the scan pass.
- Haemostasis: control bleeding first, because a moist sulcus reads as a blur over the exact line we need.
- Long spans: long multi-unit bridges accumulate stitching error, so scan deliberately and slowly across the span.
For deep subgingival preps where you cannot expose the margin, a conventional impression is still the safer record. We are happy to take either, and we would rather have a clean physical impression than a digital impression that guesses at the margin.
Scan Bodies for Implant Cases
For an implant restoration we do not read the implant position from soft tissue. We read it from a scan body, a precision component that screws into the implant and gives the scanner a known geometry to locate the implant axis, depth and timing.
- Match the system: the scan body must match the implant brand and platform exactly, or the library alignment will be wrong.
- Seat fully: confirm the scan body is fully seated and the screw is finger tight, then verify on a radiograph if there is any doubt.
- Capture the emergence: scan the soft tissue profile with the healing abutment out, then place the scan body and scan again so we have both.
- Tell us the kit: name the implant system and scan body brand in the lab notes so we load the correct digital library.
Implant work is its own workflow start to finish, so see our implant restoration lab guide for abutment and emergence detail.
File Formats and Open Versus Closed Systems
Once the scan is captured it has to reach us in a format our CAD software can open. Most cases arrive one of two ways: a shared cloud case from the scanner ecosystem, or an exported mesh file you attach to the case.
- STL: the universal surface mesh, opens anywhere, but carries no colour or shade data.
- PLY: a mesh with colour, useful when the scan colour helps us read the margin and tissue.
- OBJ: another textured mesh format some systems export with colour mapping.
- Native cloud case: 3Shape Communicate, Medit Link, MyiTero or the Dexis portal share the full case to our lab account directly.
If your scanner is on a closed or subscription export, tell us before the case so we agree the route. An exported STL or PLY almost always works, and the cloud share is cleaner when your system allows a direct connection to our lab.
Sending a Scan to Flora
Sending a digital case is short. Share the case to our lab account or export the files, then add the prescription detail we need to design and fabricate without coming back to you.
- The scans: prep arch, opposing arch and a buccal bite, plus the pre-prep or emergence scan for implant work.
- The prescription: tooth number, restoration type, material and margin design.
- The shade: shade and any stick-bend or characterisation notes, with a shade photo if you can.
- The system: your scanner and, for implants, the implant system and scan body brand.
New to sending us digital cases? Send one test scan and we will fabricate it free, up to £100, with no invoice and no contract, so you can check our fit and finish before you commit anything. We are a UK lab working with UK practices, accredited to DAMAS, DLA and GDC standards.
What Happens to Your Scan in the Lab
Once your digital impression arrives we design and mill or print it through a fully digital pipeline. The scan feeds straight into design, so there is no scanning of a model at our end and no transfer error from a poured cast.
- Design: we mark the margin on your mesh, design the restoration and check contacts and occlusion against your opposing scan.
- Fabrication: the design is milled or printed, then finished, glazed and characterised by hand.
- Turnaround: crown and bridge work runs around 10 working days, and a clean scan keeps it on schedule rather than adding a query.
The design and milling side is covered in detail in our guide to CAD/CAM and AI fabrication.
What is the use of intraoral scanner in dentistry?
An intraoral scanner captures a direct digital impression of the teeth, gums and bite as a 3D model. For lab work it replaces the physical impression and poured model, so we receive the prep, the opposing arch and the bite as files we open straight in CAD for crowns, bridges, veneers and implant restorations.
Which intraoral scanners do you accept?
We accept scans from 3Shape, Medit, iTero and Dexis. You do not need to change hardware. Share the case through your scanner ecosystem or export an STL or PLY and attach it. If you are unsure how your system exports, send one test case and we will confirm the route.
Are there any downsides to intraoral scanners?
The main limit is that the scanner only records what light reaches. Subgingival margins, bleeding and pooled saliva drop accuracy in that area, and long multi-unit spans accumulate stitching error. For deep subgingival preps a conventional impression can still be the safer record, and we are happy to take either. See our guide to conventional impressions and trays.
What file format should I send my scan in?
An STL is the universal surface mesh and opens anywhere, while PLY and OBJ carry colour that can help us read the margin and tissue. A native cloud case from 3Shape Communicate, Medit Link, MyiTero or the Dexis portal also works well. If your scanner is on a closed export, tell us before the case so we agree the route.
How do scan bodies work for implant cases?
A scan body screws into the implant and gives the scanner a known geometry, so we can locate the implant axis, depth and timing from the scan rather than the soft tissue. It must match the implant system and platform exactly, be fully seated, and be named in your notes so we load the correct digital library. More detail is in our implant restoration lab guide. implant restoration lab guide
How long does an intraoral scan take?
A single prep scan with the opposing arch and bite takes only a few minutes chairside once you are practised. The time you save is at the lab end: a clean scan feeds straight into design, so there is no poured model and no transfer error, and crown and bridge work runs around 10 working days.
