Modern dental restoration fabrication is shifting from a conventional craftsmanship-based approach to a digital one that leverages the precision of CAD/CAM software and hardware. In particular, with the rapid growth of economical and accessible 3D printing for home and small business environments, this trend will only continue to accelerate.
Currently, the most commonly used dental mesh file format is STL (stereolithography), originally developed by 3D systems.
Do you want to check your mesh files but have no software? No problem! If you already have an up-to-date operating system on your computer, you most likely already have a tool to view STL files. Both Windows 10 and OSX El Capitan have 3D mesh viewers natively supported. You simply need to open your STL files and the default viewer will load on its own.
Even, if you don’t have most up to date OS installed on your computer, or if you want to do more than just view your mesh files, there is a robust alternative. At no cost, an open-source application called Meshlab is available, free to download.
You can download Meshlab at the following link:
Not only is it available on PC or Mac, there is also an app version that can be used on your iOS or Android device. The mobile version, however, lacks the ability to edit.
Work with Guidance Dental and we’ll walk you through using Meshlab. We can provide you with your patient's impression STL files so you can see things like never before!
