Two ways to get a scan to a lab
Most clinics use one of two routes:
- Through your scanner's cloud. You connect the lab once as a partner, then pick it when you send each case. The scans, the prescription (Rx) and any attachments travel together in one package. This is the normal route and the least error-prone.
- Exporting files manually. You export STL or PLY files from the scanner software and upload or email them to the lab. This works with any lab, but it is easy to forget a file, mix up the upper and lower arch, or send the scans without a written prescription.
If your lab accepts cases through your scanner's cloud, use that. Keep manual export for one-off situations, and when you do, follow the file tips in our guide to intraoral scan file formats.
Connecting a lab as a partner in your scanner cloud
Every major scanner platform has a cloud portal or connected software where labs are linked to your account. Examples include MyiTero, 3Shape Communicate, Medit Link and DS Core; Shining 3D and DEXIS have their own connection workflows. The menu names differ and change between software versions, but the process is broadly the same:
- Get the lab's account identifier. This is usually the email address the lab registered with that specific scanner platform. A lab may use different addresses on different platforms, so ask for the one that matches your scanner.
- Add the lab as a partner or connection. Look for an area named something like labs, partners or connections in your scanner portal or software, and search for or invite the lab by that identifier.
- Wait for the connection to be confirmed. On some platforms the lab has to accept the request before it appears as a selectable destination.
- Select the lab when you send a case. In the Rx or send step, choose the lab from your connected list. If the lab does not appear, the connection is not finished yet.
If you are not sure where the setting lives in your version of the software, your scanner vendor's support team or the lab can point you to it. Do this once, before your first case, rather than with a patient waiting.
What to include with every case
The scan shows the lab what the mouth looks like. The prescription tells them what to make. A lab can only start without calling you if both are complete.
| Item | Why the lab needs it |
|---|---|
| Tooth numbers | Identifies exactly which teeth get which restoration. State the numbering system you use (most US clinics use the Universal system). For a bridge, list abutments and pontics separately. |
| Restoration type and material | Crown, bridge, inlay or onlay, veneer, implant crown, and so on, plus the material you want (for example zirconia or lithium disilicate). If you leave it to the lab, say so explicitly. |
| Shade | Body shade at minimum. If you want different incisal or cervical shades, or the stump shade matters for a translucent material, write them all out. |
| Margin | The prep arch must show a clear, continuous margin. Note anything the lab should know, such as a subgingival area or where you want the margin placed on an implant case. |
| Opposing arch | Needed to design occlusal contacts and clearance. A single-tooth case still needs the opposing scan. |
| Bite registration | Puts the two arches in the correct relationship. Without it, the lab is guessing the occlusion. |
| Pre-op scan | Optional but useful when the existing tooth shape, a provisional or a wax-up should be copied. |
| Notes and photos | Contact preferences, occlusal clearance concerns, special characterization, and a shade photo if you have one. |
Implant cases need more
For an implant restoration, also send a scan with the scan body seated, a scan of the same arch without the scan body (so the lab can see the soft tissue and emergence), the implant system and platform, the scan body type, and the restoration design you want (for example screw-retained or a custom abutment with a cemented crown). A scan body scan on its own is not enough to design the case.
Common reasons a lab cannot start a case
When a case stalls, it is rarely the lab's equipment. These are the gaps that come up again and again:
- Only part of the scan set was sent. For example, only the scan body scan arrived, or only one arch. Before sending, check that every scan you took is attached to the case in the cloud, not just saved on the scanner.
- No restoration was entered in the Rx. A scan with no teeth selected reads as a study model. If you want a restoration made, the tooth and the restoration type have to be in the prescription.
- Missing or unclear bite. The arches were scanned but the bite registration step was skipped, or the bite was taken with the patient not fully closed.
- Margins the lab cannot read. Blood, saliva, cord fibers or tissue covering part of the margin leave a gap in the data right where precision matters most.
- Conflicting information. The Rx says one material and the notes say another, or tooth numbers in the notes do not match the teeth selected. The lab has to stop and ask.
- The case was sent before the cloud finished processing. Some platforms process or convert scans in the background after upload. If a case is sent the moment scanning ends, the files a lab needs may not be available for a while.
- Implant details missing. No implant system, platform or scan body type, so the lab cannot load the right library.
Each of these costs at least one round of messages, and often a day. A one-minute review before sending prevents most of them.
How this works on HERi2go
HERi2go connects dental clinics, mostly in the United States, with partner dental labs. Instead of exporting files, you add HERi2go as a partner (lab) in your scanner's cloud and send the case to the account that matches your scanner system:
| Scanner system | HERi2go partner account |
|---|---|
| iTero / Medit / 3Shape / Shining 3D | heribiocloud@gmail.com |
| Dentsply Sirona (DS Core), USA / Americas | heribio@heribio.com |
| Dentsply Sirona (DS Core), Australia | heribio.au@gmail.com |
| DEXIS | heribio.dev@gmail.com |
HERi2go first has to accept your partner request, usually within 24 hours. Cases sent before then don't come through, so enter those orders by hand. After that, a case usually becomes an order within a few minutes. Your part is to:
- Review the order. You'll get a notice in the case chat when the order is created. Compare the tooth numbers, restoration type, material and shade with your prescription. If something is wrong or a scan is missing, choose Withdraw Submission, edit the order or add files, and resubmit. You can do this while the lab is still reviewing the order; after that, ask the lab for changes in the case chat.
- Approve the design. The lab sends its CAD design for your approval before fabrication begins, so you can check margins, contacts and contours first. Rush cases and labs you've set to auto-approve designs normally skip this step, unless the lab requires your approval or your points balance is short.
- Follow the case. Case status, design approval and chat with the lab (with built-in translation) are available on the web and in the HERi2go Clinic mobile app for iOS and Android.
Everything in the checklist above still applies: the automatic order form can only be as complete as the case you send.
Before you hit send: a quick checklist
- The lab is connected as a partner in your scanner cloud and appears in the send list.
- Prep arch, opposing arch and bite registration are all attached.
- For implants: scan body scan, soft tissue scan, implant system, platform and scan body type.
- Tooth numbers, restoration type and material are entered in the Rx, not only in the notes.
- Shade is complete, including incisal, cervical or stump shade if they matter.
- Margins are clean and continuous on screen before you finish the scan.
- Notes do not contradict the Rx.
- After sending, confirm the case arrived complete (on HERi2go, that the order appeared with all its files).