What is digital dentistry?

For restorative dentists, the workflow change is concrete. An intraoral scan replaces a PVS impression, the STL file uploads directly to the lab's CAD platform, and a technician begins designing the restoration the same day the file arrives. No deformation in transit, no pour variability, no model-shipping delay. For a single-unit crown that means a design-to-mill window measured in hours, not the two-plus days a physical model adds to the calendar.

On the full-arch side, digital dentistry closes the loop between surgery and prosthetics. CBCT data merges with the intraoral scan to plan implant position, mill the surgical guide, and design the final prosthetic inside one unified file set. That continuity matters most on All-on-X cases, where a fit discrepancy at any handoff between surgeon and lab translates directly into a remake and a rescheduled seating appointment.

For prosthodontists and oral surgeons managing complex implant cases, the practical gain is collaboration speed. A lab that works in the same digital environment can review the scan, flag an emergence profile concern, and return annotated feedback before a single component is fabricated. That exchange used to take a physical consultation or a courier round-trip. Digital dentistry compresses it to an email thread and a shared file.