What is the CID file format?
A .cid file is a proprietary binary data file used by coDiagnostiX, a professional dental implant-planning application developed by Dental Wings and now maintained under the Straumann Group. It stores a user-defined (custom) dental implant definition - encoding the implant's physical geometry, diameter, length, and the drilling protocol parameters needed for guided-surgery planning.
Clinicians or implant manufacturers use .cid files to add implants that are not yet in the standard coDiagnostiX library. Once imported through the software's implant library dialog, the custom implant becomes available for placement and surgical-guide design alongside built-in entries.
The file format is entirely proprietary and undocumented publicly. Its internal layout is binary and is not human-readable or editable outside coDiagnostiX. No official magic-byte signature has been published, and the file carries no standard MIME type beyond the generic application/octet-stream. Version compatibility is tied directly to the coDiagnostiX release that wrote the file.
.cid files are small - typically a few kilobytes - because they contain parametric implant data rather than volumetric scan data such as DICOM or STL geometry. They are not opened by double-clicking; instead, coDiagnostiX loads them through its Import Implant workflow.
Note that .cid is a shared extension - it is also used by unrelated formats including Adobe CID-keyed font data - so context matters when encountering this extension outside a dental-planning workflow.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA .cid is a small, passive parameter file with no executable content and no patient data, so it poses little direct risk. The real concern is clinical correctness: a user-defined implant definition must exactly match the physical implant and the manufacturer's drilling protocol - use only definitions supplied or validated by the implant manufacturer, since errors affect guided-surgery accuracy. Treat unsolicited .cid files with caution and verify their source before importing into a medical-device application.
Format details
in a nutshell- Adobe CID-keyed font (Character ID) - Adobe's CID-keyed CIDFont for large CJK glyph sets; used in PostScript/OpenType font production, unrelated to dentistry.
- Generic ID/serial sidecar file - Some apps write '.cid' as a small identifier/serial file (e.g. an installation or content ID); content is application-specific.
Programs that open CID files
Windows1 app
coDiagnostiX
Paid Open coDiagnostiX, go to the implant library / import function, and load the .cid to add the user-defined implant. (Not opened by double-click.) 
macOS1 app
coDiagnostiX
Paid In the macOS build of coDiagnostiX, import the .cid through the implant-library dialog. Technical details
deep spec| Format type | Proprietary binary implant-definition file |
| Container | coDiagnostiX proprietary internal container |
| Encoding | Binary; not human-readable or user-editable outside coDiagnostiX |
| Typical file size | A few kilobytes - stores parametric geometry and protocol data, not volumetric scan content |
| Purpose | Defines a user-added dental implant: diameter, length, geometry, and drilling/placement parameters for guided-surgery planning |
| MIME type | application/octet-stream (no dedicated MIME type registered) |
| Magic bytes | No publicly documented file signature |
| Version compatibility | Tied to the coDiagnostiX version that created the file; cross-version compatibility is not guaranteed |
| Platform support | Windows and macOS (wherever coDiagnostiX is installed) |
| Access method | Imported via coDiagnostiX's implant library / Import Implant dialog; not associated with a double-click handler |
| Developer / owner | Dental Wings, acquired by Straumann Group |
| Extension collision | The .cid extension is also used by unrelated formats such as Adobe CID-keyed font data |
| Related formats | Used alongside .dxd (coDiagnostiX plan files) and .cdx files within implant-planning workflows |
| Compression | Not documented; likely absent given the small parametric data payload |
| Regulatory context | Created within coDiagnostiX, a CE-marked and FDA-regulated Class II medical-device software application |
| Released | With coDiagnostiX implant-planning software (Dental Wings; acquired by Straumann) |
| Latest version | Tracks the installed coDiagnostiX release (e.g. coDiagnostiX 10/11) |
| Specification | codiagnostix.com |
CID conversions
Community Q&A
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