Exocad

1) Order Setup: - The Order Setup lets you provide details about the dental restoration, like the type (crown, bridge,
etc.), material preferences, and specific patient information. This ensures the final product is tailored to the
patient's needs.

a)
Open the Exo-cad dental DB Software and go to the “New” top on the left side of the Software.
b)
Select the client and name in the software. The name must be the same as the file name.
c)
In the “note” section we can paste the Rx of the case we received from the lab. On the
d)
Select the Crown number that needs to be designed.
e)
When we click on the crown number a new page will show the left side of the software to select the
crown type—for example, Anatomic crown, Coping, etc.
f) Select the material according to the RX. Like As Zirconia, e.Max etc.
g) Select the preop scan in the section “Additional Scan” top right of the software screen. (If we have a
pre-op scan).
h) Click Ok on the bottom right of the Software screen.
i) Select the “digital impression” or “two stones in occlusion” in the Scan model section bottom right of
the screen.
j) Select the save icon third top left of the screen.
k) Then click on the “design” second top right of the screen.
 If we made any mistake in selecting the crown number or material that leads to be re-mill or redesign.
2) Scan Import: -
a) Select the scan location and then select the scans accordingly.
b) Select the file that is mentioned on the top right of the screen. Like Upper/ Lower.
c) Select the antagonist scan.
d) select the Pre-op (additional Scan). If any.
e) Click on the continue.
 If we select the wrong scan, it leads to the wrong crown design and re-mill.

3) Orientation: - The purpose of orientation is to correctly align and position the imported scans or models to ensure accurate
design and fitting of dental restorations.
a) Move the preparation scan on the Occlusal Surface and set it according to your birds-eye view.
b) Click on Next.

 If the Orientation is not placed correctly the path of insertion will be wrong and that leads to undercuts and open margin
lines while designing and fitting issues in the patient’s mouth.

4) Group Selector: - The Group Selector is displayed in the upper left corner of the screen. You can show/hide scene objects
(e.g., scan data or model teeth) using the Group Selector. The available scene objects depend on the workflow progress.
 • Show/hide groups/elements by clicking the checkboxes.

• Show/hide subordinate elements by clicking the triangle symbols next to the checkboxes.

• Change the opacity for a group / an element using the slider that appears when you hover the mouse
over the group/element.

• Right-click a group / an element for further group/element-specific options.

• Unfold the Teeth expander to switch visibility on a per-tooth basis.

5) 3D data Editor: - Designers can fix and adjust 3D scan data for dental work. It helps correct scan errors, tweak mesh details,
and get the data ready for accurate design and creation of dental restorations.
a. Select “select straight through” and Mark the area that needs to be trimmed off.

b. Only removing extra parts does not trim any tooth from the scan/ follow lab defaults for the model.
c. If there is any extra scan, we can remove it by selecting the “Select by click on the surface” tool and delete that part.
d. If there is any hole in the scan, we select the scan and click on the “Close Holes” option.
e. Click on Next.
f. Select the “Do not modify scan data”.

 I the upper and Lower scans are not trimmed correctly then it affects the Bite classification and occlusal position (High /
Low), and it also affects the virtual articulator movements.

6) Expert Mode: - Expert Mode provides advanced tools and options for more detailed control over the design process.

a) Click on the Expert icon in the second top right of the screen.
b) Select the scan for more options.

7) Free-form scan data: – we can make the digital scan workable with the help of the free-form scan data.

a. Check both types of scans 1 color scan and 2 Monochromes if it has any issues like (Gum cover to margin, shoulder
not visible, blood contamination). Then sculpt on the scan.
b. If the gum covers the margin line, select the “Add/Remove” tool, and remove the gum area.
 c. If There is any deep part or any extra part on Die use add to fill the deep part and remove the tool to remove an
extra part. Do not use the “Smooth” tool on the margin and die.
 If we do not sculpt properly or leave the gum area on the margin line or do over-sculpting, it leads to a short/over-
extended margin line/crown and fitting issues.

8) Margin line: – Describes the boundary where the restoration meets the prepared tooth structure. This is important for
ensuring a precise fit and a pleasing appearance.
a) First mark the margin on the shoulder if the shoulder is not visible, we are following the color scan and Margin
Continuity.
b) For Digital Cases Model Margin and Crown Margin are the same if we have any doubt margin, we go back and change
the model margin by going next, Resetting the Insertion Direction then Setting the Insertion Direction again by going
next, and clicking Recalculation Option (Visible in left side on the screen in the Middle.
 If we do not mark the margin line properly then it leads to a short/overextended margin line that causes crown fitting
issues and an open margin line.
9) Insertion direction: – Decides the angle at which a dental restoration (like a crown) will be placed in the patient's mouth.
1. margin lines should be visible on 360’. If there are any Undercuts visible on one side, then rotate the scan slightly
and divide the undercuts.
2. Equal gap visible on both sides (Mesial, Distal, Buccal, Lingual).
 If the path of insertion is not correct, then we will face the crown fitting on the model or the patient's mouth.

10) Bottom Settings: – Bottom settings determine how closely the restoration fits against the prepared tooth or implant. They
ensure the restoration remains securely in place while reducing gaps that could cause discomfort or issues.
Check the Material setting as per the given Lab Material.
a. Cement Gap: - The Amount of Area visible on the Margin Line.
b. Extra Cement Gap: The offset amount is in the Interferences area.
c. Dist. To Margin Line: - The Distance from the margin Line to the borderline marking the Border between the Cement
Gap and the Extra cement Gap.
d. Smooth Dist.: - The Area Around the borderline in which the interference is smoothed. This ensures a smooth
transition between the two parts of the interference having different Offset.
e. Remove Undercuts: - when selected remove the undercut while creating the cement Space.
f. Drill Radius: - The radius of the spherical drill toll applies (only relevant when applying milling machines in the
production step).
g. Drill Comp. Offset: - the distance from the margin line that defines where the drill radius is applied.
11) Copy Tooth: - The Copy Tooth tool simplifies replicating natural teeth for making dental restorations like crowns or veneers.
 1: Select Copy/Mirror.
 2: Click the tooth you want to copy/mirror in the scan. The software automatically extracts and displays the scanned
tooth geometry in yellow.
 3: Move the cursor to the target location and confirm the target position with a second click. To move a
copied/mirrored tooth, drag it with your mouse. To rotate, hold CTRL and drag. To scale, hold SHIFT and drag.
12) Load Custom Model Tooth: - Lets you import and utilize custom tooth libraries or specific Exocad libraries.
a) Go to the load custom model tooth option in expert mode at the bottom of the screen.
b) Select the desired library.
c) We can change the crown number from here.
 If we do not use the correct library required by the lab, then it leads to re-mill or it will affect the customer’s trust.
13) Tooth Placement: - In the Tooth Placement window, there are three tabs: Simple, Advanced, and Chain Mode. These tabs
offer different ways to place teeth. The Chain Mode tab becomes active when you position multiple teeth.

I. Simple Mode: -

 Moving Tooth Models

Step 1: Activate Move.

Step 2: Click the model tooth you want to move.

Step 3: Drag the tooth to the desired position.

 Rotating Tooth Models

Step 1: Activate Rotate or use the shortcut in Move mode.

Step 2: Click the model tooth you want to rotate.

Step 3: Hold the mouse button and drag. The rotation center is the model tooth’s center.

 Scaling Tooth Models

 Step 1: Activate Scale or use the shortcut in Move mode.

Step 2: Click the model tooth you want to scale.

Step 3: Hold the mouse button and drag the mouse to scale the tooth. A green arrow indicates the scaling direction.
To perform direction-based scaling, use CTRL and SHIFT.

II. Advanced Mode: - In the Advanced tab, you can instantly adjust the shape of the model teeth. Hold SHIFT to
resize parts of the tooth. Hold CTRL to rotate parts. Hold CTRL + SHIFT to move parts.

1. Tooth axis selection scaling: Scale intuitively based on direction. Hold SHIFT, left click towards the tooth axis to scale.
Use CTRL + SHIFT for scaling on two axes simultaneously.

2. Free axis selection scaling: Visual boundary aids scaling direction. Hold SHIFT for single-direction scaling. Hold CTRL +
SHIFT for scaling in two directions.

3. Instant morphing free-form tool: Basic shape adjustments during tooth setup (e.g., moving a cusp).

4. Instant anatomic morphing cutting with antagonist: Moving or scaling a tooth cuts intersections with the antagonist.

5. Instant anatomic morphing deformation with antagonist: Adjusts tooth shape to fit antagonist, ensuring proper contact
areas.

6. Maintain minimum thickness: Ensure minimum thickness while moving teeth, adjusted in real-time with morphing
tools.
 III. Chain Mode: - We use this for bridges.

 If we do not follow the tooth position correctly then it leads to the wrong arch form, over/under contour, and affects
the symmetry.
14) Adapt: - We use this tool to connect the crown with the margin line.
a) Select the crown, go to the adapt tool, and click Ok.

15) Free-Form: - The Free-Forming window has three tabs representing three free-forming modes.

• Free: Use a virtual wax knife to add, remove, or smooth material and adjust the chewing surface.

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Selecting actions Choose between the Add/Remove and Smooth/Flatten buttons.

1) Add/Remove material: Click and hold the left mouse button on the tooth to add material. To remove material, hold SHIFT
while clicking. The longer you hold, the more material is added or removed.
2) Smooth/Flatten rough areas: Click and hold the left mouse button on areas of the tooth you want to smooth. For super-
smoothing (flattening) material, hold SHIFT while clicking. For a smoother but shape-preserving effect, hold CTRL.

3) Adapt: - We cut the occlusion and contact distance on the desired value.

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• Anatomic: Modify tooth anatomy using predefined features like cusps and fissures on model teeth.

Select the area of the tooth to edit by clicking these buttons:

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1. Cusps: Edit individual cusps. This is best for restorations based on model teeth (like anatomic crowns or copings).
2. Tooth Parts: Edit the mesial, distal, buccal, or lingual parts depending on where you click. Useful for adjusting
approximal contacts while keeping the tooth attached to the preparation margin.
 3. Entire Tooth: Edit the entire tooth.
4. Ridge: Edit ridges. This is effective for restorations based on model teeth (anatomic crowns or copings).
To change the anatomy, click and drag with the left mouse button. For transformations limited to the occlusal direction,
enable "Occlusal Only". To keep the cusp tips or the equator fixed, activate the corresponding buttons (only works for model-
based restorations).

 If do not use free and anatomic tools properly it affects the crown shape which leads to re-mill/redesign.

• Attachment: Attach or detach items from the attachment library to an object.

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To add or remove attachment shapes, use the Add or Remove buttons.

• Select the attachment library and type from the drop-down menus.

• Use Move to relocate the shape, rotate to adjust its orientation, and Scale to resize it. While in Move mode, hold CTRL to
rotate and SHIFT to scale. Some attachments may restrict rotation and scaling based on the library settings.

• Choose the Insertion Direction for the attachment:

 From the Top (based on scan data orientation)

 From the current View direction

 Perpendicular to the restoration of the Surface.

• Enable Cut on Gingiva to automatically adjust attachment positioning relative to the scan or a specified distance defined by a
slider. Negative distances indicate an intersection with the scan.
  If the attachment is not applied properly then it will lead to fitting issues and re-mill.

16) Set Minimum Thickness: - We can change the minimum thickness value.
a) Go to the tool, set the desired value, and click Apply.
 If we do not follow the minimum thickness according to the lab preference, then the crown will break at the time of
milling.

17) Merging and Saving the Finished Restorations: - In this option, we can save the designed file.
a) Click on the “Merge and save restorations” option.
b) Click on the Ok.
 If we do not save the crown, then the STL file will not generate, and it leads to redesign or hamper customer satisfaction.
18) Deleting Constructed Parts: - Using this function, you can delete all parts of a reconstruction (e.g. crown bottom, model
tooth, preparation, etc.).

1. Step 1: Select Delete Reconstructions in the Expert toolbar or delete constructed parts in the context menu. This Open the
Delete Reconstructions window
2. Step 2: Select the parts to delete from the Delete: drop-down menu (Crowns/Inlays/Abutments etc. / All). The Parts to the
Delete section lists the parts that will be deleted. You cannot select individual items in the list.
3. Step 3: Click OK to confirm.
19) Main Toolbar: -

Selection Subselection Description/Reference

Save Click to save a scene file representing the current design state in the project
folder. By default, the scene file’s name is <ProjectName>.dentalCAD.
Right-clicking the Save button shows the subselections below.

Save scene as You can rename the scene file, select another directory, and
select a different file type in an Explorer window.
Export scene Saves the visible objects as STL files to the project directory.
to mesh Use the Group Selector to include/exclude objects to be
exported.
PDF export Saves the visible objects as a PDF file, which can be viewed,
rotated, and commented on in Adobe Reader (version 4.3 or
above). Use the Group Select- tor to include/exclude objects to
 be exported.
Save scan info Save the scan information to a file. The following information
will be saved:

Per tooth: tooth number, tooth color, reconstruction type,

preparation margin, and corresponding points (if you have
already defined a margin for that tooth), name of the scan
data file
Per project: project name, project directory, details about scan
data files
(e.g. file name, file hash), transformation matrix
Export tooth Export all tooth models as OBJ files to the project directory.
models

Expert/ Toggles between Wizard mode (default) and Expert mode.

Wizard

Tools Opens a sub-selection with available tools.

Articulator Appears after the automatic articulator calculation has been performed, and
provides virtual articulation options.

Visualize Will visualize the articulator imprints, i.e. the convex hull of
Virtual moving the scan data.
Articulator
Imprint
Delete Deletes the virtual articulator imprint.
virtual jaw
imprint.
Selection Subselection Description/Reference

Show Enables/disables the automatic distance coloring between opposing or

distance adjacent teeth.
s

TruSmile Toggles realistic rendering of tooth restorations. You can access the
additional modes Plaster and Outline by right-clicking the TruSmile button in
the main toolbar.

Plaster Applies a cream-colored rendering of tooth restorations.

Outline Will show only the contour of the object (restoration or scan
data). Note that the Outline mode is only available if the Add-
on module Smile Creator is activated.
Smile Only shows up if Smile Design has been used.
Design/Smile
Design (Full
Tooth)

Color/ Available if the scan data contains color information. Toggles between
Textur color and monochrome display of the scan data.
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Cut view Opens a window showing a sectional view of your design.

DICOM Opens the DICOM Control window. Only shows up if you open DICOM Control
Control from the Tools menu at least once.

Add As you proceed with the design, it can be convenient to recreate a

Custom previous viewpoint. When clicking Add Custom View, the current view is
View captured, and automatically named Custom View 1. Right-click Custom
View 1 to rename it. You can add up to eight custom views.

View Arrows Using the arrows, you can quickly view the scene from all six compass
directions. These do not automatically correspond to anatomically correct
directions of the scan data in the scene (depending on the scanner and
scanning software). You can control the arrow rotation speed in the
settings.
 Help Opens this user manual.

20. Shortcut Keys: - Content

Summary of hotkeys for DentalDB application

Key Description

Ctrl+Left Mouse In the tooth selection: Apply last selected

Button settings to another tooth

Shift+Left Apply last selected settings for all teeth from

Mouse Button the last selected tooth to the clicked tooth

Summary of hotkeys for DentalCAD

application

Key Description

Right Mouse Button Rotate view

Right+Left Mouse Move view

Button

Cursor Keys Move View

Middle Mouse Button Center view & set new rotation point

Press Wheel Button Center view & set new rotation point

Scroll Wheel Button Zoom in & out

POS1 Center view & set new rotation point

Ctrl+Shift+F3 Optimize for Remote View by

Teamviewer/Netviewer/Remote
 Desktop/VNC etc.

Alt Press to temporarily show all objects.

Release Alt to return to previous state.

Ctrl+R Space ruler

Ctrl+V Paste the image content of the clipboard

Ctrl+P Clip planes

F11 Full screen mode

CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+F11 Kiosk mode for demos

CTRL+ Middle Mouse Hide the object under the pointer

Button

CTRL+SHIFT+ Middle To show the object hidden again

Mouse Button

SHIFT+ Wheel Middle- Toggle transparency of the object under

click the pointer

CTRL+Z/CTRL+Y Undo/Redo

CTRL+S Save scene

CTRL + SHIFT + Q Save a screenshot in the project folder

CTRL+F1 Add a new custom view

CTRL+F2 Toggle between the custom views

HOME Set view rotation pivot to the current

cursor position

UP, DOWN, LEFT, Translate camera

RIGHT
PAGEUP, PAGEDOW Rotate camera horizontal around pivot

NUMPAD1 Front view

NUMPAD2 Bottom view

NUMPAD3 Back view

NUMPAD4 Left view

NUMPAD5 Fit view to the selected object or the

whole scene

NUMPAD6 Right view

NUMPAD8 Top view

CTRL+SHIFT+F Toggle to render the face scan in front of

everything else

CTRL+F Toggle the visibility of face scans

Show/Hide Groups (Group Selector):-

Key Description

A Antagonist

C Connectors

P Pre-op (situ)

T Telescopes

X Upper jaw (maXillae) – only for cases with restorations in both u

N Lower jaw (maNdible) - only for cases with restorations in both

S Jaw Scans
 W Waxup scans

V Virtual gingiva design

O Other

G Gingiva scans

F Full contour parts

I 2D images

B Crown Bottoms

Shift+Middle Mouse Button To toggle transparency

E Anatomic parts

R Reduced parts

D DICOM

M Merged parts

Show/Hide Tools :-

Key Description

CTRL+D Show Distances tool

CTRL+R Measurement tool

CTRL+P Sectional View

Wizard: -

Key Description

F1 Help
CTRL+SPACE Next

CTRL+Backspace Back

In All Designs Controls: -

Key Description

TAB Switch to the next tab

SHIFT+TAB Switch to the previous tab

Crown/Inlay/Veneer Bottom: -

Key Description

123 Activate brush

Free forming: -

Key Description

12 Add+Remove/Smoothing

3 Adapt

4 Move cusps

5 Move Tooth parts

6 Move entire Tooth

7 Move ridge

CTRL+T Toggle “Hold cusps Tips”

CTRL + Q Toggle “Hold eQuator”

CTRL + M Occlusal Movement only

Free-forming:Cut intersections With

 Key Description

CTRL+X Antagonist + gingiva+adjacents

CTRL+G Basal only

CTRL+N Adjacents only

CTRL+A Antagonist only

Key Description

1 Detect

2 Correct/Draw - Edit

3 Correct/Draw - Magnetic

4 Correct/Draw -Free

+/- Move up and down

CTRL+X Clear

<PageUp> and <PageDown> To rotate to inspect the margin line from all side

Preparation Margin Detection