Digital Impression Systems, CAD/CAM, and STL file

Digital impression systems are integral part of modern dental practice for the complete digital workflow. Digital intraoral scan containing the digital information of the oral cavity’s geometry generates a standard tessellation language (STL) file format, which is also essential during guided endodontics procedures. Direct and indirect methods can generate the STL file during classic computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) workflow. This chapter will discuss the fundamentals of digital impression systems and digital workflow, and describe a few available systems. These can generate the required STL file, which can be aligned on cone-beam computer tomography (CBCT) scans to design the guiding sleeve’s position during a guided endodontic procedure. The guided, virtually planned, minimally invasive access cavity ensures a quick and successful root canal access with the smallest possible loss of tooth structure.