The Digital Dental Workflow, From the IT Side: A Guide for Prosthodontic Practices

The lab calls at ten in the morning: the upper and lower scans for this afternoon's full-arch try-in never arrived. The scanner cart says they were sent. For practice owners and office managers in a prosthodontic office, that call is the moment the digital dental workflow stops being a clinical topic and becomes an IT one.

This guide maps where each file in a prosthodontic case lives, shows which ones most practice backups miss, sets out who to call for each device, and ends with a 14-question scorecard you can take to any IT provider. If you are looking for a provider rather than a guide, start with our page on dental IT support. This guide comes from Ian Lynch, who has 22 years in dental IT and oversees the NOC, onsite dispatch and client technology roadmaps.

What is a digital dental workflow, from the IT side?

A digital dental workflow is the chain of files a case produces: scans, CBCT volumes, photos, designs and print or mill jobs, moving between devices, software and the lab. From the IT side, it is a set of computers, network paths, accounts and storage locations that must all work on the same day for one case to move forward.

3Shape describes the clinical chain in four steps: "Digital data acquisition", "Digital design (CAD)", "Manufacturing (CAM)" and "Clinical delivery and data archiving", in its explainer on digital dentistry workflows. The same page notes that instead of shipping physical impressions or models, "digital files can be shared directly." That one sentence is where IT comes in: every file that is shared also has to be stored somewhere, by someone, and copied somewhere else in case that place fails.

Here is the same chain, read as an IT checklist:

The American College of Prosthodontists' position statement on advanced digital technologies (approved 2014, reaffirmed 2018) argues for open systems and "a common digital file format (e.g. STL)". For IT, an open format matters for a practical reason: a file you can export is a file you can back up and move to a new system later.

If you want the broader picture of where dental technology is heading, our overview of digital dentistry covers it. The rest of this guide stays with the files.

Where does every file in a prosthodontic case live? The data-flow map

Each file in a prosthodontic case has a default home: the scanner PC, a vendor cloud, the imaging server, the CAD workstation or the practice management system. Most practice backups cover the server and the PMS but not the scanner cart, the CAD project folder or the photo library. The map below shows each one.

Read it one row at a time. The column that matters most is "In your practice backup?", because the honest answer for many offices is "nobody has checked".

The CBCT sizes come from one radiology reading service's guidance on DICOM exports; your unit and settings will differ. For scan and design files, no vendor publishes a typical size, so measure a recent full-arch case on your own disk and multiply by your monthly case count.

Digital impressions as files: STL, PLY, DCM and the 45/90-day cleanup rule

A digital impression is a set of files: raw streams captured at the chair, then a processed model saved in a format such as STL, PLY or DCM. On 3Shape TRIOS, the raw streams stay on the scanning PC and are deleted automatically after a set time; the case itself is kept.

The 3Shape Help Center article on TRIOS system cleanup (dated 09/11/2023, re-read 26 October 2026) sets out the rules:

• • "Cases and patients are never deleted from the system."
• • Streams "are only saved on the PC where the case was scanned," and must be post-processed before the case can be opened on another computer.
• • Automatic cleanup runs "for all POST-PROCESSED cases older than 45 days; for all NON-POSTPROCESSED older than 90 days."
• • If there is "less than 15 GB of free space on the system drive", cleanup also runs on post-processed cases younger than 45 days, oldest first.
• • Below 15 GB, if automatic cleanup cannot free enough space, a manual cleanup window appears. It deletes streams only, older than one to three weeks, and you can choose to preserve up to two months back.
• • The "Protect from cleanup" option "will not protect the cases from manual cleanup."

What that means for IT: the case survives, but the raw data behind it lives on one cart's disk until cleanup removes it. If that cart fails before a case is post-processed, the streams exist nowhere else. A full disk speeds up deletion. Other scanners have their own storage rules, so ask your vendor or reseller for the equivalent page.

Find out what you actually keep, in three steps:

1. 1. Find the case folder. Ask your reseller where the scanner software stores cases and streams on the cart or laptop. Write the path on the data-flow map.
2. 1. Check the free disk. Look at the system drive's free space. If it is below the 15 GB line 3Shape names, cleanup is already removing streams from younger cases; if it is close, it soon will.
3. 1. Confirm the backup job includes it. Ask IT to show you, on screen, that the backup job includes that folder and when it last ran. "The server is backed up" does not answer this question.

The digital denture and full-arch workflow, as files

A digital denture or full-arch case produces more files over more visits than a single crown: several scan sessions, a CBCT, photos and often a face scan, then a design that is revised before anything is printed or milled. From the IT side, the question at each visit is the same: which PC saved the file, and is that PC in the backup?

If you only check one thing on a long case, check that the first visit's raw files are post-processed and copied before the 45-day mark.

Not sure where your scans, designs and CBCT exports actually live? A Free Dental IT Assessment gives you written findings and prioritized recommendations on your computers, software, network security, backups and performance.

Your own map (copy this table and fill it in):

What does a prosthodontic practice run? The technology map

A prosthodontic practice typically runs a practice management system, an imaging platform with CBCT, one or more intraoral scanners, a CAD workstation, a printer or mill, photo storage and several lab portals. Each layer has its own software vendor; IT keeps the computers, network, backup and accounts underneath all of them working.

Legend supports the IT environment for Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental and Archy, and for DEXIS, Vatech, Carestream, Planmeca/Romexis and Dolphin Imaging; our pages on DEXIS, Carestream and Planmeca Romexis cover those platforms. Scanners, CAD software, printers and mills in the table are systems your practice runs: IT keeps the computers, network, backups and accounts around them working, and the vendor or reseller supports the application.

When the imaging software and the PMS stop talking, our guide to imaging integration troubleshooting walks through the bridge. If the PMS itself is the question, start with our overview of dental practice management software.

Who do you call: the reseller, the scanner company or IT?

Call the vendor or the reseller you bought from for the scanner, CAD or printer software, its licence and its portal. Call IT for the PC it runs on, the network, Wi-Fi, firewall, backup and user accounts. When you cannot tell which side failed, start with IT, who can rule the network and PC in or out first.

3Shape's own Dental System requirements page ends with "Please contact your Reseller or 3Shape support in case of questions." For scanner and CAD software, first-line help often comes through the reseller that sold you the licence. Keep that reseller's name and contact on the same sheet as your IT provider's.

Whoever your IT provider is, its part of this matrix is the IT column: the PC, network, backup and accounts. The vendor or reseller keeps supporting its own application, and a good IT provider does not try to replace that.

What do the PCs need?

CAD and scanner PCs need a dedicated Windows machine on the vendor's approved list, a discrete graphics card where the vendor names one, and nothing else installed. Keep Windows and graphics drivers updated, and check the vendor's list before any upgrade.

3Shape's hardware tips say "Using a PC from the approved PC catalog is crucial when using the 3Shape TRIOS intraoral scanner," and advise dedicating the PC to TRIOS, installing Windows updates and keeping Nvidia drivers current (3Shape, 3 August 2023).

Processor, memory and graphics figures for exocad, 3Shape and Medit are in our guide to CAD and scanner workstation requirements. One age check matters here: 3Shape lists TRIOS MOVE and TRIOS 3 carts as "not compatible with Windows 11" in its Windows 11 FAQ; first-generation MOVE+ carts can be upgraded. Our scanner requirements guide covers what to do with an older cart, and Windows 10 end of life covers the rest of the office. For buying and setting up the PCs themselves, see dental workstations and servers.

How should the network be split in a prosthodontic office?

Split it by what each device does: clinical PCs and imaging on one segment, scanners and CAD where they can reach the case files, printers and mills where the design PC can find them, and phones, guests and building systems kept apart. Each vendor publishes its own rules; the split should follow them, not a generic template.

Two vendor notes shape the scanner and printer rows. 3Shape's 2025 Dental System requirements describe a server PC that "is to be used for data storage and sharing only" and ask for a separate Ethernet connector for the scanner; the scanner guide linked above covers the 3Shape Unite server's wired-network requirement. SprintRay's troubleshooting page for a printer that does not appear in print setup says "Your IT team may need to whitelist the following URLs and ports" (SprintRay Support). Most cloud-connected printers and mills have a list like that; ask your vendor for theirs before the device arrives.

For bandwidth, add up your vendors' published figures rather than guessing: the scanner figures are in the scanner guide above. If you are planning a move or a new office, our technology plan by room covers the drops and closets, and how a dental office network is set up covers the order of work. Our dental office network design page describes how we approach it.

Backup and records: the files your backup probably misses

Most dental backups cover the server: the PMS database and the imaging database. In a prosthodontic practice that leaves out the scanner carts, the CAD project folders, printer job files, the photo library and anything that lives only in a vendor cloud. A backup only counts when you have restored from it.

The usual gaps:

• • Scanner PC folders. Raw streams live only on the scanning PC until cleanup removes them. If the cart is not in the backup, neither are they.
• • CAD project folders. Often a local folder on one workstation, outside any backup job.
• • Printer job files. Usually low risk because they can be regenerated from the design, but only if the design was kept.
• • The photo library. Camera cards, a photo PC or a shared folder nobody added to the job.
• • CBCT exports. Exported DICOM copies made for a lab or a referral can sit in a downloads folder. Storage for CBCT itself is covered in our CBCT storage and backup guide.
• • Vendor-cloud copies. 3Shape says data in 3Shape Communicate is "continuously backed up using either locally-redundant or geo-redundant methods" and that "These backups are retained for 30 days" (3Shape Communicate safeguards). That is the vendor's backup of its service, not the practice's own copy of its records.

How long you must keep records is set by your state. Check with your dental board or your adviser; this guide does not give a retention period.

Our dental backup and disaster recovery checklist covers the wider plan, and backup and recovery for dental offices describes how backup is set up.

Lab portals and accounts: who can still see your cases?

Every lab portal and vendor cloud is an account that can see patient scans. Give each one a named login, turn on MFA where the portal offers it, name an owner in the practice, remove staff the day they leave, and disconnect labs you no longer use. A portal account that outlives the person who made it is a gap.

Which vendors sign a business associate agreement (BAA) with your practice, and how the lab fits, is set out in our guide to sending scans to your dental lab securely. Ask your privacy officer or attorney how it applies to you.

Departures are where most portal gaps start, so add the portals to your staff onboarding and offboarding checklist. For scans sent by email, see email security for dental offices. For the wider rules, our summary of HIPAA Security Rule updates and our dental cybersecurity page are the next reads.

What should a prosthodontic practice ask an IT provider?

Ask where each file in your workflow lives and who backs it up, who you call for each device, how scanner and CAD PCs are kept within vendor requirements, and when a restore was last tested. Good answers are specific to your devices and come with dates and names, not general reassurance.

Use this scorecard with your current provider or any provider you are considering. Score each answer: 2 for specific and dated, 1 for general, 0 for no answer.

For the contract side (terms, exit, pricing structure), our 20 questions to ask before signing with a dental IT provider covers it.

If your scorecard has more zeros than twos, a Free Dental IT Assessment gives you written findings and prioritized recommendations on your computers, software, network security, backups and performance.

Prosthodontic practices Legend has worked with, and what IT costs

Legend worked with Dr. Amir El Hassan on the opening of Top Star Prosthodontics. Hallmark Prosthodontics, Dr. Anna Karina Thorn's new practice: Legend was part of its grand opening in November 2025.

What IT costs: Starting at $360 per month. Hardware procurement, major cabling projects and software licensing are quoted separately. Our dental IT support page has the detail.