How to take a good intraoral scan?

Moisture is the single biggest scan-quality killer. Saliva pooling on a prepared margin scatters the structured-light pattern and forces the scanner to interpolate data it should be capturing directly. Isolate with cheek retractors, cotton rolls, and a quick air blast immediately before each sweep. For posterior quadrants, tilt the wand slightly buccal to avoid the tongue shadow that drops out lower molar data.

Scan sequencing matters more than speed. Most scanner manufacturers recommend starting on the occlusal surface of the opposing arch first, then the prep arch, then capturing buccal bite registration in three segments: anterior, left, right. Skipping the segmented bite or capturing it in one pass introduces registration error that shows up as open contacts or premature occlusal contacts in the final restoration.

For labs receiving the file, scan quality directly controls whether a case moves into design on day one or sits in a revision queue. At Dani Dental, scans arriving with full-arch coverage, complete margins, and a clean bite registration move to CAD within hours of receipt. Incomplete scans require a digital call-back that costs the prescribing office a half-day of case lead time. If your team is still building scan protocol, Dani's digital workflow team can review your first three cases and flag the patterns causing the most rework.