I just got a Cympha case-share email — what do I do?

A case-share email means a colleague or lab has given you read-only access to one case in Cympha dental lab case management software; this guide shows how to claim it.

Audience: Clinicians (general dentists, specialists, referring doctors) who received a Cympha case-share notification.

You'll come away knowing: how to claim the shared case, where it appears in your account, what you can do with it (view the case and its files — shares are read-only), and what to do if the dashboard looks empty.

Time required: Around five minutes the first time, including sign-up. Under a minute on subsequent shares.

Before you start

You need:

The original email from Cympha telling you a colleague shared a case with you. If your email is about something else (a design approval request, a status update, a patient invitation), you're looking at a different notification — see Related how-to at the bottom.
The exact email address the share was sent to. The share is tied to that address. If you sign in with a different one, the dashboard will look empty even though the share exists.
A phone or laptop with a current browser. Cympha runs in the browser; there's nothing to install for read-only review.

If a colleague mentioned they shared a case but no email arrived, check your spam folder for messages from Cympha. Corporate mail filters occasionally hold the first message from a new sender.

Step 1 — Open the email and click the link

The email names the sharer and the patient, and carries a button linking to the case. Click it.

If you're already signed in to Cympha on that exact email address, the case detail page loads. If you're not signed in, Cympha bounces you to the sign-in page. If you don't have an account yet, sign up with the recipient address — go to app.cympha.com/sign-up and use that address; the share will be waiting on the dashboard.

Tip — don't retype the email yourself. Cympha matches the share by email; using the link preserves the exact address the sharer typed.

Step 2 — Sign in or sign up with the same email

If you have an account already, sign in with the email and password you set up previously (or via Google / Microsoft if you used OAuth originally).

If this is your first time on Cympha:

From the sign-in page, click the Sign up link (or go to app.cympha.com/sign-up directly).
Use the same email the share was sent to — Cympha matches the share by exact email string.
Set a password (or continue with Google / Microsoft) and confirm the verification code sent to your inbox.

The whole sign-up takes under two minutes. No payment is required just to view a shared case.

Step 3 — Find the case on your dashboard

After sign-in you land on app.cympha.com — your case dashboard. The shared case appears as a row with a Shared badge next to the patient name. For example:

Patient: Jose Bend
Status: Awaiting Approval
Badge: Shared

Cases you own (cases you created or submitted yourself) do not carry the Shared badge. The badge is how you tell at a glance which row came from a colleague.

If the dashboard is empty, see Troubleshooting below — the most common cause is signing in with a different address than the one the share went to.

Step 4 — Open the case

Click the row. The case detail page loads with these panels:

Header — patient name, status badge, category (Orthodontics / Implant / AlignerBot / Lab Service), and the Shared badge.
Files — every file attached to the case, listed with download / preview actions. As a shared (read-only) recipient you can view and download files but cannot upload.
Activity log — the case history visible to the doctor: status changes, assignment changes, uploads.

You'll also see a notice reminding you that this case was shared with you — you can view it, but can't upload files.

Step 5 — Give your feedback outside the platform

A colleague share is strictly read-only. There is no comment box, chat access, or any other write action for share recipients — the share exists so you can see the case.

To pass along a second opinion, referring-dentist context, or QA observations, contact the case owner directly — phone, email, or however you normally reach them — or ask them to relay your notes to the lab. The case owner holds the case and makes every decision on it.

What happens next

The case stays on your dashboard. Even after the original doctor approves or finishes it, the share remains. You can always come back and re-read.
The dashboard row updates as the case advances. As the case moves from Designing to Awaiting Approval to Approved (and so on), your dashboard row's status badge updates accordingly.
You can view but cannot write. Shared access is deliberately read-only. The case owner uploads files and makes approval decisions; you advise them outside the platform.

When sharing ends

Any participant on the case — not only the person who shared it with you — can click Stop sharing in the Share dialog. That revokes every colleague share on the case at once: the case disappears from your dashboard and the link in the original email stops working. There is no warning email; the row simply vanishes. Reach out to the case owner if you think this happened by mistake.

Troubleshooting

My dashboard is empty after sign-in. You almost certainly signed up with a different email than the one the share was sent to. Sign out (top-right menu → Sign out), then go back to the original email and use its link, which carries the correct address. If you genuinely need the share moved to a different address, ask the case owner to re-share to your new email.

The link in the email won't load the case. The share may have been revoked (someone on the case clicked Stop sharing). Ask the case owner to open the case's Share dialog and add your email again; a fresh email goes out.

I see the row but can't open the case. Refresh the page. If sharing was stopped while you had the dashboard open, the row disappears on the next refresh — ask the case owner to share the case again if you still need access.

I want to upload an STL or a CBCT zip. Sharing is read-only by design — there is no writable share type. Email the files to the case owner and they can upload on your behalf. This boundary prevents accidental uploads from the wrong person breaking a case mid-design.

I want to recommend a different lab. Tell the case owner directly — they hold the case and make every routing decision on it.

Related how-to: see Approve or reject a design if the email you received was an approval request, not a share.