How to Prescribe a Diagnostic Wax-Up: What to Send Us

By Bridge Dental Laboratory · 10 October 2026

A diagnostic wax-up is one of the few things a lab makes where the quality of the result depends less on us than on the brief. Give a technician good records and a clear goal and you get something you can genuinely plan treatment around. Give them two models and “wax-up please” and you get a guess.

Here is what actually makes the difference.

The records

The baseline:

Upper and lower scans or impressions. Digital scans are preferred — they are more accurate and come with free 3D-printed models — but a well-taken impression is fine.
A bite registration, so we are working to the right relationship rather than guessing at it.
Clinical photographs. Easily the most under-sent record, and the one that changes the outcome most.

Why photographs matter more than people expect

Models tell us about teeth. They tell us nothing about the face — and an anterior wax-up is a facial result as much as a dental one.

What photographs give us that models cannot:

Lip line at rest and on full smile — how much tooth actually shows
Midline relative to the face, not just to the arch
Incisal plane against the interpupillary line
A sense of the patient’s existing character, so the result doesn’t look borrowed from someone else

A retracted shot plus a natural smile shot covers most of it. It takes a minute at the chair and saves a remake.

The three lines worth writing

Most prescriptions describe the appliance. For a wax-up, describe the intent:

What the patient wants changed, in their words. “Hates the gap”, “wants them straighter but not whiter”, “doesn’t want them to look false” — this tells us more than any set of measurements.
Which teeth are in scope, and which are deliberately not being touched.
Constraints you already know about — planned extractions, existing crowns or veneers, endodontic or implant plans, an occlusal scheme you intend to preserve, or a vertical dimension you are or aren’t opening.

That third one prevents the most wasted work. A wax-up designed around a tooth you already know is coming out is a wax-up done twice.

Tell us what it’s for

A wax-up used purely to sell the case and one used as a working blueprint for provisionals and preparation are designed with slightly different priorities. Saying which you want — or both — lets us build it accordingly.

Then review before the clock starts

Turnaround on a wax-up runs from the point you approve the design, not from when the case lands. That is deliberate: it means you can ask for changes at the planning stage, when they cost nothing, rather than after the work is done.

Send us a case

We produce diagnostic wax-ups in our Christchurch lab from scans or impressions. See scan and impression requirements for the records in detail, turnaround times for current figures, or diagnostic wax-ups: show patients the result for how practices use them to win case acceptance.

FAQ

Common questions

What records do you need for a diagnostic wax-up?

Upper and lower scans or impressions, plus notes on the patient's treatment goals. Digital scans are preferred — they produce the most accurate wax-ups and come with free 3D-printed models. A bite registration and clinical photographs make the result considerably better.

Why do you need photographs as well as models?

Models show us the teeth; photographs show us the face. Lip line at rest and on smiling, midline and the incisal plane relative to the face are things a model simply cannot tell us — and they are exactly what determines whether a wax-up looks right in the mouth.

What should I actually specify in the prescription?

Three things make the biggest difference: what the patient wants changed in their own words, which teeth are in scope, and any constraints you already know about — planned extractions, existing restorations, endo or implant plans, or an occlusal scheme you intend to keep.

Can you work from impressions rather than scans?

Yes. We accept traditional impressions as well as digital scans. Scans are preferred where you have the option, for accuracy and because they come with free 3D-printed models, but a well-taken impression works perfectly well.

How long does a diagnostic wax-up take?

Our standard turnaround for wax-ups runs from the date you approve the design rather than the date the case arrives, so the clock starts once you are happy with the plan. See our turnaround times for the current figure.

What can I do with the wax-up once it arrives?

Beyond showing the patient the proposed result, a wax-up is a working blueprint — it can be used to produce matrices for provisionals and to guide preparation, so the plan you agreed carries through into treatment.

Send us your first case

Open an account, request a price list, or just send a scan — we'll take it from there.

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