Scan, shade, and the design file
The lab file behind an All-on-6 bridge
The implants are placed in the clinic. The teeth are designed from files. Before a provisional or a final bridge is made, it is reasonable to ask which records the laboratory actually received.
- Imaging
- CBCT or a scan
- Bite
- How the jaws meet
- Shade
- A named color
- Design
- An STL that opens
The scan
A panoramic photo can start a conversation. A laboratory that is designing a full-arch bridge usually needs the imaging the clinician chose for that plan, often a CBCT, plus the model or intraoral scan of the arches.
The shade
“Natural” is not a shade. A name such as A2, with a note of which guide was used, is something the laboratory can read when the provisional or the final teeth are made.
The mesh
The bridge design is often a mesh file, commonly STL. If that file will not open, the clinic and the laboratory are not looking at the same shape.
The material of the bridge and the file used to design it are separate questions. Both belong in the plan.
What to ask before the teeth are designed
Four records, named in writing.
- Which imaging is the laboratory using for this arch?
- Is there a bite record, and does it match the planned jaw position?
- What shade name, and which shade guide, is written for the teeth?
- Can the design file be opened, and is it the provisional, the final, or both?
- Which bridge material is named? See PMMA, zirconia, and support.
Free tools from TrazaLab
Open the file before you treat it as the plan.
TrazaLab publishes free browser tools for dental files. TrazaLab is dental lab software for clinics and laboratories — a separate case system. It is not the laboratory that fabricates an All-on-6 bridge, and these tools do not diagnose, quote treatment, or approve a design.
For full-arch cases that also need dentist software and shared lab records, the same TrazaLab homepage is the dental SaaS software entry point.
If the clinic sends an STL of a provisional or a bridge design, the free STL viewer opens that mesh in the browser so the shape can be looked at. A file that opens is not a file that fits. If a mesh will not open, the free STL repair page can be tried on a copy of the file. A cleaned-up mesh is still not a clinical approval.
A written shade is easier to share when the name comes from a known guide. The free shade guide is a reference for VITA Classical and 3D-Master zone names. It does not measure a tooth from a photograph.
A CBCT is a different kind of file. TrazaLab’s dental DICOM viewer is published in Spanish. It is a viewer, not a radiology report. Opening a scan shows that a file exists. Reading the scan belongs to the clinician.
The mesh
Does the STL open, and is it labeled provisional or final?
The shade name
Is the color a guide name, not a word like “white”?
The scan
Which imaging file did the laboratory receive?
The material
The design file and the bridge material should be named together. How cost is built depends on both.
Lab-file questions
Opening a file is not the same as accepting a bridge.
These answers stay inside what a patient can check. They are not a treatment plan.
Can I open an All-on-6 design file myself?
If the clinic gives you an STL, a free browser viewer can open that mesh so you can see the shape. Opening it does not mean the bridge fits, and it does not replace the clinician’s review.
Does a shade name decide the final color?
A shade name tells the laboratory which tab on a known guide was chosen. The final appearance still depends on material, thickness, the opposing teeth, and the clinician’s plan.
What if the mesh file will not open?
Ask the clinic for a fresh copy before anyone treats a broken file as the design. A repair tool can be tried on a copy. A file that then opens still needs the laboratory and the clinician to accept it.
Does TrazaLab make the All-on-6 teeth?
No. TrazaLab publishes the free file tools linked on this page. The clinic and its laboratory remain responsible for the records, the design, and the bridge.
Bring the question to the plan
Ask which files the lab received.
A written plan should name the imaging, the shade, the bridge material, and whether a design file exists.
This page is general information. It is not a diagnosis, a quote, or a guarantee. The free TrazaLab tools open or name a file. They do not decide treatment.