5 Questions To Ask Your Texas Dental Lab
The relationship between a dental office and its dental lab is a vital one here in Texas. Dentists cannot offer patients services like dentures, crowns, and veneers if it wasn’t for a dental lab. To give the patients the care they deserve, communication between the dentist’s office and its dental lab is necessary.
Whether you’re a new dental practice building a new relationship with a dental lab or transitioning to a new dental lab, there are some questions to ask your local dental lab to give you an idea of how great a relationship can be between your dental office and the dental lab.
These questions include:
1.) Are the materials used ADA approved?
The saying “you get what you pay for” applies accurately when dealing with a dental lab. As a dental practice, you’d like to have both quality work and affordable prices. This is often not possible.
The competition in the dental lab industry is high. Beware of dental labs that offer very low prices for their products. These products are often low-quality, non-ADA-approved materials made in poor environments.
When in doubt, it is better to pay extra as you’ll get the high-quality products made from high-grade materials that you want and which your patients want too.
2.) How does the lab guarantee quality control?
Your patients expect fast service along with high-quality products. You don’t want your patient to wait very long for items from the dental lab.
While quick turnaround is great, it shouldn’t come at the price of quality. Allowing an additional day or two for the dental lab to better check the quality of the product is good.
Ask the dental lab to explain their processes, who is in charge of quality in each step and how is quality checked. Also, ask about how the quality of the materials used in the products is determined. A dental lab with a good reputation will have no problem disclosing this information. Don’t be afraid to ask.
3.) Does the lab send any work internationally?
There will be many dental labs wanting to partner with your dental practice. Some labs, nevertheless, undercut prices to appear more attractive. Some labs cut costs on their products by sending the work internationally. These overseas labs don’t comply with the sterile and clean environment that is necessary for safe products. There is likely to be no product quality control nor the use of good quality materials used in the products.
4.) Is a visit to the lab available?
If you’re going to enter a long-term, financially invested relationship with a dental lab near you, it is necessary to really get a feel for it than physically visiting the lab and seeing it for yourself. Many dental labs may look good on paper and the reps may brag about how awesome the lab is. See the lab yourself and see how these claims truly stack up. A dental lab with a good reputation will have no issue showing you around its facility.
5.) Does the dental lab give support for the dental practice?
Dental labs that have been around for a very long time have likely seen it all. In the majority of cases, these dental labs work with a lot of dental offices. Dental labs that have “been around the block” a few times can give valuable expertise and support to your dental practice. These dental labs can be a resource of great value.
If you are based in San Antonio or Houston Texas our top-rated dental lab can answer all of these questions for you and more! Contact us today:
Ultimate Dental, Denture, Crown & Implants Lab 5718 Westheimer Ste. 1000, Houston, TX 77057 (346) 437-8770 https://ultimatedentallab.com/houston-tx-dental-dentures-crowns-implants/
Ultimate Dental, Denture, Crown & Implants Lab 18911 Hardy Oak Blvd San Antonio, TX 78258 (726) 207-5833 https://ultimatedentallab.com/san-antonio-tx-dental-dentures-crowns-implants/
