Tooth STL to a STEP solid for CAD and FEA
Segmented a tooth from CT, or exported a crown? Upload the closed STL and get a STEP solid made of smooth NURBS surfaces, ready to import into simulation or CAD. Free preview and deviation report; pay only if you download.
Drop a file, or click to choose
STL · OBJ · PLY · 3MF · GLB · glTF · STEP — up to 100 MBNo file handy? no sign-up
Conversion complete Free
From a segmented tooth to a simulation-ready solid
FEA packages such as ANSYS, Abaqus and COMSOL mesh solid geometry, not the triangle surfaces that 3D Slicer, Mimics or a scanner export. The usual route — surfacing the mesh by hand in reverse-engineering software — takes hours per model and an expensive licence.
Vertessia does the surfacing automatically: it fits NURBS patches over the closed mesh and writes a closed solid STEP. The deviation report tells you how far the surfaces are from your original mesh — figures you can quote when you describe the geometry in a methods section.
A solid needs a closed (watertight) mesh; open meshes come back as surfaces, so fill holes in 3D Slicer, Meshmixer or Blender first. For multi-tissue models (enamel, dentin, pulp, bone), convert each tissue as its own closed STL and assemble or Boolean them in CAD.
What to expect
We have not published a tooth benchmark yet. On a closed organic test model — the Stanford bunny, 112,000 triangles — the live engine produced:
| Result | Closed solid, 8,190 NURBS surfaces at 1 mm patches |
| Time | About 1–1.5 minutes |
| Coverage | 100% of the mesh surface |
| Mean deviation | 0.006 mm |
| 95th percentile | 0.019 mm |
Your numbers depend on the mesh quality and the patch size; the free preview shows them for your own file before you pay. A larger patch size gives fewer faces and a lighter STEP, which usually meshes faster in FEA.
Prepare a closed STL
Segment the tooth, smooth lightly, fill any holes so the mesh is watertight, and keep it under 100 MB (a few hundred thousand triangles is plenty).
Reconstruct
Log in (free — 3 downloads included), upload, and pick a patch size: 1 mm by default, larger for fewer faces.
Check and import
Read the coverage and deviation report, download the STEP, and import it into ANSYS, Abaqus, COMSOL or your CAD system to mesh with tetrahedra.
Questions
Will the result be a solid?
Yes, if the uploaded mesh is closed (watertight). An open mesh comes back as an open surface model; the preview shows which one you got before you pay.
How many faces will the STEP have — is that a problem for meshing?
Typically hundreds to thousands of NURBS patches. Most FEA pre-processors mesh this without trouble; if yours struggles with small faces, use a larger patch size or your tool's options for merging faces (for example virtual topology).
How do I report the geometric accuracy?
The deviation report samples 20,000 points on your mesh surface and measures their distance to a fine tessellation of the rebuilt STEP: coverage, mean, 95th percentile, maximum, and the share of points within 0.02, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.25 mm.
Can I model enamel, dentin and pulp?
Yes — export each tissue as its own closed STL, convert them separately, then assemble or Boolean the solids in your CAD or FEA pre-processor.
Is this validated for clinical or regulatory work?
No. Vertessia is a general-purpose geometry tool, not a medical device, and results are not reviewed by a person. Verify every result yourself — see our output disclaimer.
What does it cost?
Reconstruction and the 3D preview are free with a free account. Downloading a STEP costs one credit (from $1 per file in a pack); new accounts get 3 free downloads. Failed conversions are never charged.
Free to convert and preview. Pay only for the STEP you keep.
Mesh conversions and STEP → mesh are free, without an account. Reconstruction (mesh → editable STEP) always runs at full quality and the 3D preview is free — one download costs one credit. Failed conversions and re-downloads are never charged.
- All mesh conversions, free
- STEP → mesh, free
- Reconstruction + 3D preview (free account)
- 3 free STEP downloads when you sign up
- Or 30 downloads for $30
- Credits never expire
- No subscription
- Small “Converted by Vertessia” note in the STEP header — geometry untouched
- 30 STEP downloads / month
- Clean STEP header
- Priority queue
- 200 STEP downloads / month
- Clean STEP header
- Priority queue
Higher volume? Team — 1,000 downloads / month for $249 — subscribe. API usage draws on the same credits. Custom volume or on-premise arrangements: info@vertessia.com