The Printing Workflow — Scan to Printed Restoration on OCTOpod

Why this page exists

Every clinical page on OCTOdent assumes the dentist has a printed restoration to work with. This page documents how to get from a patient in the chair to a fully post-processed printed crown ready for try-in and cementation.

Written for the dentist who just opened the OCTOpod Starter Kit box and also useful for the dentist who prints daily and wants to verify they're doing every step correctly. Clinician to clinician.

The workflow at a glance

  1. Scan the prepared tooth and adjacent anatomy with an intraoral scanner.
  2. Design the restoration in CAD software (crown, inlay, onlay, space maintainer, bridge pontic).
  3. Export the design as STL or equivalent 3D mesh file.
  4. Slice with the OCTOpod-provided print profile for BEGO VarseoSmile TriniQ.
  5. Plate the restorations — fit multiple crowns per plate where geometry allows.
  6. Print on your Elegoo Mars 4 Ultra or Phrozen Sonic Mini 8KS.
  7. Remove from the build platform.
  8. Wash + post-cure per the Post-Processing Protocol.
  9. Air-abrade + prime + cement per the Bonding Protocol.

Total time from scan to cemented restoration: 45–90 minutes depending on indication and whether you batch multiple cases.

Step 1 — Scan

Any modern intraoral scanner works with the OCTOpod workflow: iTero, TRIOS, Medit, Planmeca Emerald, Carestream CS 3700, Primescan, etc. The OCTOpod does not require a specific scanner brand; the design software imports standard STL/OBJ files.

Scan priorities

  • Prep margins: critical. Subgingival margins need retraction cord or laser troughing for a clean capture. A scan with bleeding or saliva at the margin produces a crown that doesn't seat.
  • Adjacent anatomy: scan at least one tooth on each side of the prep for accurate contact design.
  • Opposing arch: capture the entire opposing arch or at least the 4–6 teeth that will occlude with the restoration. Bite registration needed for functional occlusal design.
  • Patient movement: pause and re-start the scan rather than scan through movement. Scanners interpolate across motion in ways that compound into a bad restoration.

Scanning for OCTOpod-specific indications

  • Cantilever anterior primary pontic: scan the abutment tooth with its crown already placed (if printing a post-crown pontic) or scan the prepared abutment tooth plus the edentulous space with adjacent anatomy. The pontic geometry is CAD-designed; the abutment retention is the scan-critical piece.
  • Space maintainer: scan the full quadrant including both abutment teeth and the edentulous saddle. Capture gingival contours for bonding-wing geometry.
  • Cantilever adult resin-bonded bridge: scan the abutment tooth's lingual/palatal surface very carefully — the bonded wing's retention depends entirely on this surface.

Step 2 — Design

The OCTOpod workflow is CAD-agnostic. Any dental CAD that exports STL works:

  • exocad — lab-grade, full feature set, strong for bridges and complex geometries. Annual license.
  • 3Shape Dental System — common in offices already using TRIOS.
  • Blue Sky Plan — free, smaller feature set, sufficient for straightforward crowns.
  • Meshmixer / Autodesk Meshmixer — free, engineering-focused, less dental-specific but works for custom indications.
  • Any scanner-integrated CAD (Planmeca Romexis, iTero Element, etc.) — verify it exports STL at adequate resolution.

Design principles

For printed permanent crowns in BEGO TriniQ:

  • Minimum occlusal thickness: 1.5 mm. Thinner restorations risk debond and fracture under load.
  • Minimum margin thickness: 0.8 mm feathered. Do not design knife-edge margins in printed resin — they chip.
  • Internal clearance (cement space): 30–50 μm. Printed restorations seat differently than milled; give the cement space a generous tolerance. 40 μm is a good default.
  • Occlusal relief: 30 μm relief on the central groove and adjacent marginal ridges avoids high spots that cause seating issues.
  • Proximal contact: moderate pressure. Printed resin is slightly more forgiving of tight contacts than e.max but looser than zirconia.

For cantilever pontics (primary or adult):

  • Wing retainer geometry: enamel-only coverage, adequate surface area (minimum 15 mm² for primary, 25 mm² for adult). No undercut required — retention is chemical via bonding, not mechanical.
  • Pontic-to-retainer connector: adequate cross-section (minimum 3 mm × 3 mm for adult, slightly smaller for primary). This is the highest-stress location; do not under-engineer it.
  • Pontic gingival contour: ovate or modified ridge-lap. Bullet pontics are easier to clean and look natural in most cases.

Save as STL

Export the restoration as STL at the CAD software's default dental resolution (typically 0.1 mm chord deviation). Name the file with the patient identifier and indication so it doesn't get lost in the print queue.

Step 3 — Slice with OCTOpod print profile

OCTOdent provides validated print profiles for the Elegoo Mars 4 Ultra and Phrozen Sonic Mini 8KS printers, tuned for BEGO VarseoSmile TriniQ. These profiles ship with the Starter Kit. Use them.

What the profile defines

  • Layer height: 50 μm standard. Some indications (fine anterior detail) benefit from 25 μm, with ~2× print time.
  • Exposure time per layer: tuned for TriniQ's photoinitiator absorption curve and the printer's LCD specifications.
  • Lift height and lift speed: set to minimize peel forces on delicate margins.
  • Orientation: defaults to occlusal-up or occlusal-angled for crowns; axial-up for inlays.

If you use a non-validated profile

Don't. The OCTOpod profile is the single largest factor in print quality after the design itself. A wrong exposure time produces either under-cured (soft, debond-prone) or over-cured (brittle, fracture-prone) restorations. Both fail; one looks acceptable at try-in and fails later.

If you want to experiment with a different profile for a specific reason (e.g., trying 25 μm layer height for aesthetic anteriors), validate it on non-clinical parts first — print a test geometry, measure hardness, run through the bonding protocol, verify with a bond-strength test if possible.

Step 4 — Plate the restorations

The OCTOpod Crown Vat holds a build plate sized for multi-unit printing. Fit more restorations per plate to amortize print time and consumable cost.

Plating targets

Indication Units per plate
Pediatric primary crown (posterior) 4
Pediatric primary crown (anterior) 4
Pediatric space maintainer 2–3 depending on geometry
Adult permanent crown 1–2 (one molar usually alone; premolars or small anteriors often pair)
Adult inlay / onlay 3–4 depending on size
Cantilever bridge (primary or adult) 1

Plating rules

  • Leave adequate spacing between units — 5 mm minimum edge-to-edge. Crowded plates cause resin-flow artifacts at the neighboring part's surface.
  • Consistent orientation — align all parts the same way on the plate. Mixed orientations sometimes confuse slicing software and always complicate removal.
  • Supports on non-functional surfaces — support anchoring on the intaglio is catastrophic (you'll break the fit during removal). Use supports on buccal or lingual non-functional surfaces and plan for hand-finishing.
  • Build plate area management — keep prints clustered near the center of the plate for most consistent exposure; avoid the extreme corners on large plates.

Cost math

One Crown Vat at ~$18 prints four primary crowns or one to two permanent crowns. Even at one permanent crown per vat, the material cost is ~$18 per unit — vs. $89–$150 wholesale for a lab-milled lithium disilicate crown. The economics favor batching, but they don't require it.

Step 5 — Print

Load the Crown Vat into the printer, pour in BEGO VarseoSmile TriniQ resin (the Vat holds ~30–40 mL working volume; the 250 g bottle of TriniQ yields roughly 10–15 vat fills, which is roughly 40–60 pediatric crowns or 10–30 adult crowns).

Printer hygiene

  • Work on a clean bench with resin-rated gloves (nitrile, not latex) and eye protection. Uncured resin is a skin sensitizer.
  • Keep the printer ambient temperature 20–28°C. TriniQ's viscosity and exposure curve are temperature-sensitive; cold print rooms produce under-exposed prints.
  • Ambient UV: keep the printer away from windows and overhead UV-capable fluorescent fixtures. Stray UV pre-cures the resin in the vat over time.
  • Build platform: clean and scratch-free. Any contamination or surface damage telegraphs into the first print layer and causes poor adhesion or mismapped geometry.

During the print

You don't need to monitor actively. The print runs 25–60 minutes depending on indication, layer height, and plate fill. Useful time to see another patient.

After the print

Do not immediately remove the build platform. Let the printer's automatic drip-drain cycle finish (~2 minutes). This reduces the amount of uncured resin that ends up on your gloves and the bench.

Step 6 — Remove from build platform

The correct sequence

  1. Remove the build platform from the printer with gloves on.
  2. Set it on a paper towel or covered tray.
  3. Use the OCTOpod flex scraper (included in the Starter Kit) to gently lift the printed parts off the platform. Angle the scraper parallel to the platform surface, not perpendicular.
  4. If parts are stuck: do NOT pry perpendicular to the platform. Slide the scraper underneath at a shallow angle and work around the base of the part. Forced removal cracks fine margins.

Support structure removal

  1. Inspect each part for support anchors.
  2. Use fine flush cutters to clip supports as close to the restoration surface as practical without touching the surface.
  3. Do not twist or break off supports by hand — the crack propagates into the restoration and may not be visible until cementation or function.
  4. Hand-finish support scars with fine diamond burs at low speed, or leave the small stubs for post-cure finishing.

Step 7 — Hand off to post-processing

The printed, unsupported, platform-removed restoration now goes into the wash + post-cure cycle documented on the Post-Processing Protocol page.

Total time from scan start to ready-for-try-in: typically 45–75 minutes for a single indication, or 60–90 minutes for a 4-crown plate of pediatric restorations.

The 6 mistakes that cause print failures

  1. "I scanned through patient movement." The scanner interpolated. The restoration won't seat. Retake the scan; this is faster than redoing the print and failing at try-in.
  2. "I used a non-validated print profile." Under-cure or over-cure. Debond-prone or fracture-prone. Use the OCTOdent-validated profile that ships with the kit.
  3. "I designed a knife-edge margin because it looks better." Knife edges chip in printed resin. Feather to 0.8 mm minimum.
  4. "I supported the intaglio to save material." Removing intaglio supports destroys the fit surface. Always support on non-functional buccal/lingual surfaces.
  5. "I printed on a cold bench." Under-exposed. Temperature-stable 20–28°C working environment.
  6. "I pried the parts off the platform." Micro-cracks propagate. Use a flex scraper at a shallow angle, parallel to the platform.

Troubleshooting common symptoms

Symptom Likely cause Fix
Poor adhesion to platform; parts float in vat Exposure time too short, dirty platform, cold room Validate with OCTOpod profile. Clean platform. Warm room.
Layer lines visible on occlusal surface Print orientation or layer height too coarse Review orientation; consider 25 μm for aesthetic restorations.
Margins chipped during removal Supports too close to margin; hand-removal instead of scraper Re-review support placement in slicer; use flex scraper.
Inaccurate fit at try-in Scan artifact, cement space too tight, distortion during print Review scan; increase cement space to 40–50 μm; check plating orientation.
Visible resin residue in intaglio corners Incomplete drain cycle, support interference Let drip cycle finish before removal; move supports away from corners.

Equipment & consumables

Printer ecosystem

  • Elegoo Mars 4 Ultra (9K mono SLA). Primary Starter Kit option.
  • Phrozen Sonic Mini 8KS (8K mono SLA). Alternate Starter Kit option.
  • OCTOpod Crown Vat and Crown Plate — disposable consumables. Available as the Starter Kit bundle and the Crown Refill Kit. Sold by OCTOdent.

Resin

  • BEGO VarseoSmile TriniQ — 250 g bottle. Sold through authorized BEGO distributors (Whip Mix, Additive-X, US Dental Depot). Not sold by OCTOdent.

Accessories

  • Flex scraper — included in the Starter Kit.
  • Fine flush cutters (hobby grade is fine). Amazon.
  • Nitrile gloves — standard dental supply.
  • Eye protection — standard.

Links to these products with OCTOdent's Amazon affiliate tag are on our recommended products page.

  • Bonding Protocol — the cementation protocol that makes printed crowns last.
  • Post-Processing Protocol — wash + cure for BEGO TriniQ.
  • Try-In & Fit Check (coming soon).
  • Troubleshooting Print Failures (coming soon).
  • Pediatric Case Library (coming soon).
  • Geriatric Case Library (coming soon).

Disclaimer

This workflow is provided as educational and clinical reference material for licensed dental practitioners. It is based on clinical experience using the OCTOpod workflow with BEGO VarseoSmile TriniQ resin on the Elegoo Mars 4 Ultra and Phrozen Sonic Mini 8KS printers as of April 2026.

Printer manufacturer and resin manufacturer IFUs supersede any recommendation on this page where the two conflict. Print profiles shipped with the OCTOpod Starter Kit are validated for BEGO VarseoSmile TriniQ on the named printers; use with other resins or printers at your own clinical risk.

Nothing on this page constitutes dental advice, a guarantee of clinical outcome, or a substitute for the practitioner's independent clinical judgment. OCTOdent does not accept liability for clinical outcomes associated with use of this workflow.

OCTOdent may earn a commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to the buyer.

Page last reviewed: 2026-04-19.