5 exocad mistakes that slow down your workflow
Five common exocad mistakes that slow down dental lab work: incomplete orders, unchecked scans, old libraries, manual settings and late thickness checks.
Most of the time lost in exocad goes on ordinary cases, in small repeated steps: a design restarted because the order was wrong, a margin redrawn because the scan was not checked, a value typed by hand on every crown. This post covers five exocad mistakes I see often when training lab teams, and how to avoid each one. It is for technicians who already design daily and want the same work done in less time.
Starting the design from an incomplete order
In exocad the order in DentalDB drives everything that follows: the indication sets the wizard steps, the material sets thicknesses and the cement gap, the implant system sets the library. An order with the wrong material or a missing antagonist looks harmless until halfway through the design, when the fix means going back and repeating steps.
The habit that saves time is a short check before opening the case: tooth numbers, indication, material, implant system and components, and whether the antagonist and bite scans are attached. If the clinic’s prescription is unclear, ask before designing.
Designing on a scan nobody checked
A scan with a hole at the margin, a bite that does not close or a scan body scanned at the wrong height produces a design that cannot be right, however carefully it is done. The problem often appears only at the end, when the contacts or the fit look strange, and the whole case starts again from a new scan.
Checking the scan takes a minute at the start: margins visible all around, bite registration aligned, scan bodies complete and correctly seated. The intraoral scan checklist lists what to look at. For implant cases, the scan body tips cover the frequent errors.
Working with old libraries and outdated settings
Implant libraries and material settings change. A lab that installed its libraries years ago and never updated them ends up with missing components, wrong geometry or Ti-bases that no longer match the parts in the box. Each of those costs time on the case, and some cost a remake.
Keep a list of the libraries in use with their versions, install updates from the component manufacturers, and remove libraries for components the lab no longer uses, so nobody picks them by mistake. The procedure is in exocad implant library installation.
Typing the same values by hand on every case
Many technicians adjust cement gap, minimum thickness and connector sizes manually on each case because the defaults were never set properly. That costs minutes on every restoration and gives different results between colleagues.
Test the values once for each material and machine, save them in the material settings, and let exocad apply them. exocad cement gap settings explains the parameters to set. Keyboard shortcuts save the remaining clicks, and the most useful ones are in exocad keyboard shortcuts.
Checking thickness and connectors only at the end
A crown or bridge shaped to perfection and then found too thin at the occlusal or with an undersized connector has to be reshaped, and the anatomy often suffers. Checking minimum thickness and connector cross sections while shaping, with the thickness view open, avoids that second round.
Minimum values depend on the material and come from its manufacturer. For zirconia they are summarized in zirconia minimum thickness and connector size.
When the problem is the computer
If exocad itself is slow, with lag while rotating or long waits on every step, the cause is usually the workstation rather than the habits: graphics card, memory or an old driver. The exocad system requirements explain what to check. For a problem on a live case, remote exocad support connects to the workstation and looks at it directly. How DentalDB keeps orders and files in order is covered in exocad DentalDB.
Frequently asked questions
Why is exocad slow on my computer?
Slowness during design usually comes from the hardware, above all the graphics card and the amount of memory, or from very heavy scans. The official system requirements and a check of the graphics driver are the first steps. Slowness across the whole workflow more often comes from the habits described in this post.
Can I change the material after starting a design in exocad?
Changing the order in DentalDB after the design has started often means repeating steps, because material, indication and parameters drive the whole design. It is faster to check the order before opening the case.
How do I make exocad settings the same for the whole team?
Save the tested parameters for each material and machine in the material settings, document them, and make sure every workstation uses the same configuration. When a value changes, it changes for everyone at once.