Selecting The Right Dental Lab To Provide Dental Hardware
Picking a dental lab to work with your office is an important decision for your practice and the patients who’ll benefit from their products. With your patient’s oral health on the line, you want to be confident that they stand by their work and only use the best materials. In the search for a new dental lab, there are a few questions to ask that can help you separate the wheat from the chaff.
Ensure They Use The IdentAlloy/IdentCeram Certification Programs.
IdentAlloy is a respected third-party certifier of materials used by dental labs, known for their IdentAlloy and IdentCeram Certification programs. Invoices marked with an IdentAlloy or IdentCeram sticker have been confirmed to contain only those substances indicated by the provider. When working with a dental lab looking for this seal will guarantee that items ordered from the dental lab are of the highest quality and made only with ADA-approved materials.
Table 1: Comparison of Numeric Data
| Name | Year Founded | Company Size | BBB Rating | ADA/CDL Certified | FDA Registered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glidewell Dental Laboratories | 1970 | 1000-5000 | A | Yes | No |
| National Dentex Labs, LLC | 1970 | 1000-5000 | A+ | Yes | Yes |
| CreoDent Prosthetics LTD | 1996 | 100-500 | NR | No | Yes |
| OralArts Dental Laboratories | 1969 | 100-500 | A+ | Yes | No |
| Burbank Dental Lab | 1979 | 100-500 | NR | Yes | Yes |
Table 2: Comparison of Important Features
| Name | Lab Network | Product Specialization | Warranty | Educational Seminars | ISO Certification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glidewell Dental Laboratories | 15 labs | Technological innovations | Not mentioned | Not mentioned | Not mentioned |
| National Dentex Labs, LLC | 30+ labs | Crowns, implants, headache therapy, orthodontic equipment | Not mentioned | Consulting services, data plans | Not mentioned |
| CreoDent Prosthetics LTD | Not mentioned | Aesthetic restorations, implant dentistry | Not mentioned | Educational seminars to dentists | Not mentioned |
| OralArts Dental Laboratories | Not mentioned | Implants, fixed prosthodontists, orthodontics, CAD/CAM products | 7-year warranty | Not mentioned | Not mentioned |
| Burbank Dental Lab | Not mentioned | CAD/CAM products, implant | Not mentioned | Educational and bar milling center | ISO certified |
Confirm That They’re A Certified Distributor of Brand Name Products
If you’re ordering brand-name products from a dental lab, you want to ensure that they’re an authorized distributor of that brand. Without this confirmation, you may have a lab try to provide you with an imitation product that doesn’t hold up to the standards of the brand name you expect. There’s a good chance that if a lab offers its “name-brand” products at a price lower than most distributors, they’re pushing an off-brand. Only working with certified distributors ensures your patients get their money’s worth. These same concerns extend to manufacturers of dental implant restoration hardware and parts.
Learn About Their Quality Control Checks
As important as learning what materials they use in the creation of their products is learning how they manage quality control. The items you order from these labs are complex precision-based hardware and require proper care in their construction. If the lab has a very short turnaround period, it may be cutting corners. Especially in the case of multistage items, such as those that start with a wax-up, rushing is a sure way to introduce imperfections to the process. Don’t be seduced by quick turnaround times; ensure your product gets the care it deserves.
Is Your Lab Open For Inspection?
The best dental labs allow the dentists who patronize them to stop in and inspect the facility. Working with a local lab gives you the benefit of supporting your community while simultaneously being able to keep tabs on the work they do. Even if your lab is in another state, it can pay to ask about the ability to inspect their facility. If they permit it, it’s a good idea to go ahead and take that tour. You may have questions about their practices, get visual confirmation of the parts they use, or otherwise benefit from being familiar with the source of your patient’s dental supplies.
Establish Open And Mutually Respectful Relationships With The Labs Owner
One mistake some dentists make is not developing a relationship with the owner of their office’s dental lab. These owners are experts in their trades and should feel comfortable with reaching out to you with any questions about dies, bites, or other materials sent to them. Knowing they can do this without negatively impacting their relationship with your clinic ensures you’ll always have their expert eye quality-checking anything you send them, helping to guarantee the best results.
We researched reputable sources in the dental community to find labs that have great reputations among practitioners.
Top 5 International Dental Labs
1. Glidewell Dental Laboratories
Company Type: Privately Held Company
Founded: 1970
Company Size: 1000-5000 Employees
BBB Rating: A, Not BBB Accredited
ADA/CDL Certified: Yes
FDA Registered: No
As one of the largest dental lab players in the industry, Glidewell has gained an exceeding reputation, owning 15 labs and hiring 5000 employees across the United States. Glidewell has captured the market, taking part with other corporate lab partners in owning less than 15% of the market, totaling between $6 billion and $8 billion. According to Forbes, Glidewell Laboratories has numerous acquisitions and retiring laboratories and thus has helped many laboratories decrease their lab costs by 20%. Glidewell has since been a corporate giant, established for over 40 years, continuing to build its technological innovations and serving dentists and hospitals across the country and internationally.
2. National Dentex Labs, LLC
Company Type: Privately Held Company
Founded: 1970
Company Size: 1000-5000 Employees
BBB Rating: A+, Not BBB Accredited
ADA/CDL Certified: Yes
FDA Registered: Yes
As another corporate giant alongside Glidewell, NDX contains one of the largest dental lab networks, serving with more than 30 local labs, and by developing local-level personalized services to dentists across the country, NDX has become an enterprise of lab craftsman and technology innovators. NDX practices digital business solutions, providing consulting services and data plans for dental practices. NDX also provides dentists with an exceeding amount of innovative products, such as crowns, implants, headache therapy, and orthodontic equipment.
3. CreoDent Prosthetics LTD
Company Type: Privately Held Company
Founded: 1996
Company Size: 100-500 Employees
BBB Rating: NR, Not Accredited
ADA/CDL Certified: No
FDA Registered: Yes
CreoDent focuses more on aesthetic restorations and implant dentistry, offering its facilities to dental patients to help reduce the amount of time needed for patients to be satisfied. CreoDent hires lab technicians with over 30 years of experience serving both the NYC and Newburgh, NY, areas. It offers educational seminars to dentists in search of trustworthy and reliable dental labs. Thus, regularly demonstrate their services by bringing training practices and seminars to their facility.
4. OralArts Dental Laboratories
Company Type: Privately Held Corporation
Founded: 1969
Company Size: 100-500 Employees
BBB Rating: A+, Not Accredited
ADA/CDL Certified: Yes
FDA Registered: No
Oral Arts Dental Laboratories is a locally-operated facility that has become a national leader in quality and service. Oral Arts holds more than 350 employees; this family-owned and operated laboratory develops and manufactures its products all within the U.S. and has an average turnaround time of 4-5 days for its products. Each of their products comes with a seven-year warranty and accepts digital scan files of all types. Operating for over 45 years, Oral Arts Dental Laboratories specializes in implants, fixed prosthodontists, orthodontics, and CAD/CAM products.
5. Burbank Dental Lab
Company Type: Privately Held Company
Founded: 1979
Company Size: 100-500
BBB Rating: NR, Not Accredited
ADA/CDL Certified: Yes
FDA Registered: Yes
Burbank Dental Lab is a full-service dental laboratory providing various CAD/CAM products. The Sedan family, owners ad operators of Burbank, have been in the dentistry business for over 65 years, originally building off of full-service cosmetic and PFM denture restorations. Their laboratory is ISO certified, and in their latest developments, created the Advanced Technology Center, housing educational and bar milling for dentists in 2009. Burbank Dental Lab continuously grows in the implant and CAD/CAM sectors and thus has a huge reputation with dentists for their personalized customer service and treatment options.
