STL is the standard exchange format of the dental CAD/CAM chain. It describes surfaces exclusively as a mesh of triangles, without units, tolerances, colors or part semantics. This simplicity makes STL universally compatible but shifts all quality responsibility into the geometry: what the triangle mesh does not describe correctly, no downstream software can reliably interpret.
Why do STL files fail so often in production?
Because the format carries no manufacturing information. Scanners, CAD and CAM interpret the same triangles with different tolerance, and defects stay invisible until some software can no longer compensate for them.
Learn more: Dental STL File Errors: 10 Problems That Stop a Case Before Milling