How to send intraoral scans to a dental lab without losing files
Scans go missing when the files and the Rx travel separately. Here are the four ways to send intraoral scans to a dental lab, and a check for each case.
By the Tusko team
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Scans go missing for one main reason. The files travel by one route and the Rx by another, and nobody is sure they met.
Send them together, to a lab that confirms what it received, and the usual causes of a lost file go away.
This guide covers the four ways a scan can reach a lab, what a complete set contains, and a check to run before each case leaves.
A transfer that ends with a receipt
A flow of four steps for sending a scan: the practice checks the scan on screen, sends the files and the Rx as one set, the lab confirms what it received, and the practice asks if it has heard nothing by the next morning.
Check the scan
Two minutes on screen, before the case leaves.
Practice
Send one set
The scans, the photos and the Rx, by the route agreed with that lab.
Practice
Get a receipt
The lab confirms what it received, the day it lands.
Lab
Ask if it is quiet
Nothing by the next morning means you ask.
Practice
Four ways a scan reaches a lab
Each route suits a different situation.
| Route | How it works | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| The scanner’s own portal | You pick the lab from a list and send from the scanner | The wrong lab is picked, or the lab is not on that network |
| Export and email | You save the files and attach them or share a link | Files are too large, links expire, the Rx is a separate message |
| The lab’s upload page | You log in to that lab’s site and upload | A different login and routine for every lab you use |
| A shared case | The scan attaches to a case that you and the lab both open | Both sides need to be on the platform |
No route is wrong. What matters is that each lab you use has one agreed route, and everyone at the practice knows it.
Write the route for each lab on one page and keep it by the scanner.
Choosing a route for each lab
Start with what the lab already uses.
If the lab is on your scanner’s network, the scanner’s portal is the shortest path. Add a complete Rx, because the notes box will not hold one.
If it is not, export the files and use the lab’s upload page, or a platform you both use.
A practice with several labs ends up with several routines. That is the case for one shared place, where every lab’s cases are sent the same way.
What a complete set contains
A lab needs more than the tooth you prepared.
- The prepared arch. The margin captured all the way round. Ask each lab whether it wants the full arch or accepts a quadrant.
- The opposing arch. The lab shapes the biting surface against it.
- The bite. This relates the two arches. Without it they float.
- A scan from before the preparation, if you took one. It shows the original shape.
- Scan bodies in place, for implant work. The lab reads the implant’s position from them.
- Shade photos. A scan’s colour is a guide to anatomy and no more.
Then the Rx. A set of files with no prescription is a puzzle the lab has to phone you to solve.
Extra scans worth taking
Three more scans can save a remake.
- The provisional, if the patient likes its shape. The lab can copy it.
- A partial denture in place, when the crown sits under one of its clasps.
- The bite on both sides, for a long span or a full arch.
Check the scan before it leaves
The scanner will send whatever you captured. Two minutes on screen saves a rescan appointment.
- The margin is visible the whole way round, with no tissue or fluid over it
- There are no holes in the prepared tooth or its neighbours
- There is enough room above the preparation for the material
- The bite looks right, and the arches meet the way the patient’s teeth do
- The opposing arch covers the teeth that touch the preparation
- The right patient is selected
- The right lab is selected
The last two take seconds and cause the hardest problems. A scan filed under the wrong name can sit unnoticed for days.
Export files that explain themselves
When you export instead of sending through a portal, the files lose their context. Put it back in the names.
Use the same pattern every time: the patient’s initials, the arch and the date.
A lab that receives “upper”, “lower” and “bite” from three practices in one morning has to guess.
Send the full-resolution file. A reduced one is smaller and loses detail where the lab needs it most.
Choose the format the lab asked for. STL vs PLY files explains what each one keeps and drops.
Send everything in one go. Three emails for one case are three chances for one to be missed.
Get a receipt for every case
Sending is half of a transfer. The other half is knowing it arrived.
Ask each lab to confirm every case the day it lands, and to say what it received. “Upper, lower, bite and Rx received” is the whole message.
If you hear nothing by the next morning, ask. A missing scan found on day one costs a resend.
Found on the day the case was due, it costs the seat appointment.
When the lab asks for a rescan
Sometimes the files arrive and the scan itself falls short. Ask the lab to show you where, with a screenshot.
Book the patient for the shortest visit that fixes it. Many scanners can add to the area in question without starting over.
Send the new scan as part of the same case, and check both dates again. A rescan uses up days the first plan was counting on.
Keep a list of what is out. Our free case tracking sheet has a column for the day each case was sent.
Where files go missing
The same few failures come up again and again.
- The wrong lab in the list. Two labs with similar names sit next to each other in the scanner’s menu.
- A new patient record. The scan is saved under a second record for the same patient, with a slightly different spelling.
- A bounced email. The attachment was too large and the warning went to an inbox nobody reads.
- An expired link. The lab opens the message a week later and the download is gone.
- Half a set. The arches went and the bite did not.
- An orphan Rx. The prescription arrives with no way to tell which scan it belongs to.
Every one of these is caught by a receipt that lists what arrived. Why dental lab cases go missing covers the other handoffs.
Mind the patient’s information
A scan with a name on it is patient information, and so is the Rx.
Email is easy to misaddress, and an attachment can be forwarded by anyone who receives it.
Ask who at your practice is responsible for privacy before you make email your routine.
Whatever the route, send the least you need to. Initials and a chart number identify a case as well as a full name does.
Delete exported files from shared computers once the lab confirms receipt. A copy left in a downloads folder is easy to forget.
PIPEDA and dental software covers what to ask a vendor about where files are kept.
Keep the scan and the Rx together
Every fix in this guide does the same job by hand. It keeps the files, the Rx and the confirmation in step.
A shared case does it by design. On Tusko, scans from iTero arrive on their own, and files from any other intraoral scanner can be uploaded onto the case.
The Rx is on the same case, so the lab opens both together. See how it looks for practices.
For what the Rx itself should say, use our dental lab prescription checklist.
Why does a lab say it never received our scan?
The usual causes are a scan sent to the wrong lab in the scanner’s list, a case filed under a different patient name, or an email attachment that was too large and bounced. Ask the lab to confirm receipt of every case, so you find out the same day.
Can we email scan files to a lab?
You can, but email is the weakest route. Large files bounce, links expire, and a message with a patient’s name in it is easy to send to the wrong address. Use a route built for the job when you have one.
Which files does a lab need for a crown?
The prepared arch, the opposing arch and the bite, as a matched set. A scan from before the preparation and shade photos help. Without the bite, the lab cannot relate the two arches.
Do we need to send the Rx if the scanner portal has a notes field?
Yes, unless the notes carry everything on a complete Rx. A notes field is free text, so it rarely holds the material, the shade, both dates and your preferences.
Related guides
A dental lab prescription has to name the patient, the teeth, the restoration, the material, the shade and the date. This checklist covers every case type.
Dental lab turnaround is quoted in in-lab working days, and it varies by lab and by product. Here is how to read a schedule and book the seat appointment.
Feedback helps a dental lab when it is specific, prompt and tied to a case. Here is what to say after a seat, when to say it, and how to raise a problem.