Abstract: An apparatus for intraoral scanning comprises an elongate wand comprising a probe at a distal end of the elongate wand. The apparatus further comprises one or more structured light projectors disposed within the probe, each structured light projector comprising: (a) a housing; (b) a light source disposed within the housing and comprising: a semiconductor laser die; and a beam shaping optical element; and (c) a pattern generating optical element. A distance D between an emission point of the semiconductor laser die and an input face of the beam shaping optical element is 50-250 microns. Each structured light projector is configured to project a pattern of light onto an intraoral surface when the light source of the structured light projector is activated to emit light through the pattern generating optical element of the structured light projector.