Can one small miss during a scan turn a straightforward case into a time-consuming remake?

This page names the five most common pitfalls that raise chair time and lost productivity in modern practice. It shows how one skipped step can ripple through data, design, fit, and bite adjustments.

Attention to capture—especially margins and adjacent contacts—often prevents returns. Simple fixes like packing retraction cord, checking margins on-screen, and keeping a 4–8° taper with rounded edges make a big difference.

Clinicians who pause to zoom, confirm, and rescan a doubtful area save hours and preserve patient confidence. Following the manufacturer’s scan pattern and avoiding overscanning keeps the model clean and predictable.

Key Takeaways

• Small capture mistakes cause most remakes; fix them early to save chair time.
• Verify margins, adjacent contacts, and a complete bilateral bite before sending the case.
• Use a consistent scan path and avoid overscanning around the prep and mesial/distal.
• Simple hand adjustments—parallel diamond, non-crosscut carbide—improve contact fit.
• Keep an open line to the lab for rapid feedback on scan data and design choices.

Why digital dentistry succeeds or fails today

Small capture gaps often decide whether a case finishes on time or heads back to the bench. The core goal is predictable, efficient care: accurate digital impressions on the first attempt shorten chair time and cut remakes.

User intent centers on faster, accurate results with fewer returns. Clinicians want scans that reflect true anatomy so design and treatment planning move forward with confidence.

User intent and goals

Labs’ CDOP teams commonly flag three preventable problems: missing scan information at mesial and distal areas, moisture that warps the 3D image, and buccal bite misalignment from cheek or tongue interference.

How issues ripple through the process

When an area is incomplete, downstream design becomes a guess. That compromises contacts, occlusion, and restoration fit, and it increases chair time.

• Establish natural occlusion before capture and confirm the rendered bite.
• Verify highlighted voids on-screen and prepare a dry field to avoid reflective artifacts.
• Follow the manufacturer’s scan path and slow at critical areas to avoid overscanning.

Education and planning reduce risk: consistent practice with intraoral scanners and targeted training improves results, including for implant cases.

digital dental workflow errors that cost time and remakes

A single incomplete scan area can cascade into multiple adjustments and delays.

Most frequent issues seen in labs and CDOP teams

Labs most often flag missing mesial and distal data next to the preparation. Moisture can warp the 3D model and the buccal corridor may shift the recorded bite.

Overscanning layers redundant geometry that software averages, which can change contact strength and occlusion. Insufficient tissue retraction hides margins and shortens restoration longevity.

Prioritizing fixes by impact on occlusion, contacts, and marginal fit

Start with occlusion—confirm intercuspation on the model before anything else. Next, check contacts for proper strength. Finally, verify margins for clarity and path of draw.

• Inspect highlighted voids and zoom into high-risk areas such as mesial/distal adjacent to the prep.
• Confirm the bite and avoid overscanning the buccal corridor to prevent averaged data artifacts.
• Standardize a quick verification routine: void check, intercuspation confirm, margin zoom.

Prevent, verify, then proceed—don’t rely on the lab to interpolate missing data.

Implant and tooth-borne cases share the same capture discipline: clean, complete, and aligned scans protect design intent and reduce patient chair time.

Adjacent contact and contour problems leading to open or light contacts

Tight or irregular proximal anatomy often hides the cause of open contacts until the lab inspects the case.

What labs see

Technicians frequently receive restorations with open or light contacts that trace back to adjacent areas shaped as pin-point, non-parallel, or irregular contours.

These contact defects change how the restoration seats and how the bite registers, increasing chair adjustments and remakes.

Clinical solution

Examine adjacent teeth for draw relative to the preparation. Create breadth with a fine parallel diamond, shaping as if prepping abutments for a bridge.

Then resmooth with a fine, parallel non-crosscut carbide to preserve contact geometry and emergence profile. Selective enameloplasty up to about 0.25 mm is safe for predictable contact strength.

Tools and technique

Use the right tools: parallel diamonds for shaping and non-crosscut carbides for finishing. Perform a quick exploratory scan from several angles, refine, then final scan to confirm correction.

Creating broad, parallel contacts helps the scanner capture consistent surfaces and reduces seat complications.

• Check path of draw and aim for even contact breadth.
• Align contact prep with occlusion to limit rocking on delivery.
• Confirm with a brief rescan before case submission.

Insufficient tissue retraction and unclear margins in digital impressions

Unseen cervical lines and surface reflections are frequent causes of unclear captures that cost time and patient confidence.

Risk: indistinct margins, compromised restoration longevity

Indistinct margins invite recurrent decay and remake cycles. When the margin is hidden, the lab must guess the finish line and the restoration fit suffers. This affects both tooth-borne and implant cases.

Solution set: pack retraction cord, verify margin clarity on-screen

Packing a retraction cord — doubling when needed — exposes equi- or subgingival lines, especially interproximally. Pause and zoom in on the margin area on-screen; if any segment looks obscured, repack and rescan that localized area.

Moisture control synergy: dry field to prevent scan distortion

Saliva reflections warp the image and blot dentition in the 3D model. Use suction while air-drying, cotton rolls or dry angles, and keep a clean, dry scanner lens. Remove cord while hydrated, then dry with gauze and an air syringe before the final scan.

Clear margins and a dry field save chair time and protect esthetics and function for the patient.

• Verify interproximal contours on-screen.
• Combine retraction and moisture control for predictable impressions.

Preparation design pitfalls that undermine restoration strength

Preparation geometry determines whether a crown becomes a lasting solution or a fragile compromise. Robust engineering beats reliance on cement. Target near-parallel walls with an approximate 4–8° taper and a clear chamfer or shoulder to create a stable seat.

Core design principles

Round sharp line angles and remove undercuts to ease the path of draw. Avoid feather-edge margins; they thin restorative material and raise fracture risk. After rough reduction, pause and inspect line angles before the final scan.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Undercuts that force excess intraoral adjustment and impair seating.
• Feather-edge margins that produce thin, brittle ceramic edges.
• Unrounded sharp edges that create stress risers and fit problems at bite seating.

A consistent prep geometry speeds approvals, reduces last-minute redesigns, and shortens appointments.

Strategic tool selection—coarse burs for bulk reduction, fine burs for finishing—helps preserve intended taper and shoulder integrity. These principles support both tooth-borne and implant restorations and tie directly into treatment planning for occlusal space and material choice.

Bite scan and buccal misalignment issues affecting occlusion

A misregistered buccal capture can make a correct preparation behave like a mismatched restoration at delivery. Buccal scans are a known hotspot because cheeks and tongue create artifacts and limited access invites premature software snap-in. That combination can misrepresent how teeth meet.

Common causes and quick checks

Early “snap-in” occurs when the scanner accepts minimal contact data. An abnormal or strained bite posture also skews results. Cheek and tongue interference add noise to the image and reduce alignment reliability.

Practical protocol to reduce occlusal surprises

Guide the patient into a natural bite, then start the intraoral scanner. Capture a full bilateral bite scan to give the software alignment redundancy. Collect ample buccal points for both arches so the software can match surfaces reliably.

• Verify intercuspation visually on the 3D image—rotate the model and confirm contacts match the mouth.
• If movement or doubt appears, coach the patient, pause, and reacquire the brief segment rather than accept it.
• Save a screenshot of verified intercuspation for the case record.

Even strong preparations and good contacts can be undone by a misaligned bite—check the bite before you send the page.

Data quality mistakes: missing scan information, overscanning, and moisture

Poor scan data often shows up later as fiddly contacts or an out-of-place bite.

Missing hotspots tend to be the mesial and distal surfaces next to the preparation. These small gaps force labs to interpolate geometry, which risks open contacts and added chair time.

Overscanning risks

Passing the wand repeatedly over the same area layers competing geometry. Software averages that data and can shift contacts or occlusion subtly away from the mouth.

Moisture distortion

Saliva and droplets create reflections that warp the image. A visible blob or shine on the model often traces back to poor moisture control at capture.

Scanner and software tactics

Follow the manufacturer’s recommended scan path and slow at critical areas. Verify software-highlighted voids and rescan only the small area affected rather than retracing the entire arch.

• Keep the wand lens clean and dry; replace covers per instructions.
• Use suction while air-drying, cotton rolls, or dry angles to control moisture.
• Document a short checklist—wand readiness, dry field, scan path, void check—before sending the case.

“Prevent, verify, then proceed—fix the image before it becomes a remake.”

Education matters: build a repertoire of angles and holds, take manufacturer modules, and attend live courses to sharpen technique.

Conclusion

Conclusion

A consistent pre-scan checklist turns guesswork into predictable, timely cases. Verifying margins, confirming contact draw, and capturing a full bilateral bite shorten chair time and cut remakes. Small, repeatable steps deliver outsized gains in image quality and restoration fit.

The essential checklist: dry field, proper retraction, stable 4–8° preparation geometry with a chamfer or shoulder, validated scan pattern, and software-flagged void checks. These habits improve the process for crowns, implant cases, and complex treatment planning across the practice.

For complex case review, pre-submission checks, or protocol coaching, contact Triple T Dental Lab  for tailored solutions. Save this page and share the checklist so teams keep quality high and reduce preventable issues.