ANSWERS

What is digital case management in dentistry?

Digital case management in dentistry is the end-to-end software workflow that tracks a restorative or surgical case from intraoral scan through design, milling, quality check, and shipment. At Dani Dental, every case carries a unique ID, a named technician, and timestamped status updates so the referring dentist see...

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What digital case management actually means on the lab side

Digital case management is the operational layer that sits underneath the CAD/CAM workflow. The intraoral scan, the design file, the mill instructions, the QC photos, the shipping label, and the technician notes all live in a single record tied to one case ID. The American Dental Association's 2023 Health Policy Institute survey found that 71% of US dental practices now use intraoral scanners for at least some restorative cases, which means the volume of digital files moving between practice and lab has roughly doubled since 2018. Without a case management system, those files get lost in email threads.

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How does a lab portal differ from email-based case submission?

A lab portal assigns a unique case ID at intake, stores the scan and prescription in one record, timestamps each status change (design, mill, QC, ship), and lets the dentist log in to see where the case sits. Email submission relies on the front desk forwarding attachments and remembering to update the dentist. On a 200-case-per-month practice, the portal model eliminates roughly 15 to 20 status-check phone calls per week and cuts misplaced-file remakes to near zero.

What turnaround should a dentist expect on a digitally managed crown case?

For a single-unit monolithic zirconia crown submitted by intraoral scan before noon, a digitally managed lab should ship in 5 to 7 business days. Layered anterior ceramics run 7 to 10 business days because of the manual stain-and-glaze stage. Implant crowns with custom abutments run 8 to 12 business days. Any lab quoting under 5 business days on a layered anterior case is either skipping QC or has not actually measured the workflow.

Does digital case management replace the technician?

No, it makes the technician accountable by name. The software handles file routing, status tracking, and QC documentation. The technician still designs the margin, selects the shade, builds the emergence profile, and signs the case before it ships. The Dani Dental model attaches the technician's name and direct line to the case record, which is the opposite of the anonymous CAD pipeline most dentists encounter at high-volume national labs.

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This answer is one piece of a larger workflow. The pillar page covers materials, turnaround, and how we build the case to your specification.

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