Laboratory scanners are desktop optical or structured-light devices used to digitize physical dental models, impressions, and wax-ups into STL files for CAD design and archiving. Unlike intraoral scanners, lab scanners work with poured models sent from the clinic — converting a conventional impression into a digital workflow entry point — or capture high-detail scans of hand-crafted wax patterns for CAD/CAM production. Laboratory scanning bridges analog and digital fabrication, letting labs that still receive physical impressions design and mill or print restorations without changing the clinician's impression-taking method.