---
title: "What Is Digital workflow? Dental Practice Glossary"
description: "A digital workflow is a treatment process that stays digital from the first scan through design to the finished restoration, with little manual work in between."
url: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/digital-workflow
publisher: Copeland Consulting Services
email: drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com
contact: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact
---

Technology and implants

# Digital workflow

A digital workflow is a treatment process that stays digital from the first scan through design to the finished restoration, with little manual work in between.

In a digital workflow, data moves from step to step without a physical model. A 2026 case paper describes a fully digital workflow that includes intraoral scanning, CAD/CAM design and a 3D-printed indirect restoration.

The usual steps are a scan, a digital design, and then milling or printing. A dentist may do all steps in the office or send some to a lab.

Each tool in the chain must work with the next one. File formats and software links matter. This is one reason owners study [digital dentistry](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/digital-dentistry) plans before they buy. See also [CAD/CAM](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/cad-cam) and [intraoral scanner](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/intraoral-scanner).

[Next stepIndustry work with Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact?topic=industry)

## Related terms

-   [Digital dentistry](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/digital-dentistry)
-   [Intraoral scanner](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/intraoral-scanner)
-   [CAD/CAM](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/cad-cam)
-   [Digital impression](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/digital-impression)

## Sources

1.  [PubMed Central: The emerging role of digital dentistry in managing molar-incisor hypomineralization](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13160353/)

## Talk with Dr. Copeland

[Contact Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact)[Email](mailto:drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com)