Page 108 - The Dental Entrepreneur

The Dental Entrepreneur

This is not the type of relationship you want. The key to any lab relationship will ultimately fall
back on your impression technique. Don’t cut corners on materials here. The greatest lab in

the world cannot give you an adequate restoration if you do not have a bulletproof impression
technique. If you provide good impressions and your work looks great, you will find that labs
will want your work and be more willing to give you financial concessions to secure you as a
client. Good impressions translate into very few remakes and very few adjustments. That is
where the lab makes their money and where you make yours. An experienced lab person is
worth their weight in gold and can teach you more about dentistry than most CE courses. Find
and utilize that relationship.

You may also find that you utilize different labs for different procedures. Some labs excel at
removable, some at fixed prosthetics. Large, nationally marketed labs may also be considered
due to their price competiveness. Ask them about their overseas relationships because you
may or may not want to have your crowns fabricated in China. My rule of thumb for the
discount labs is, if your clinical work is very good and your impressions are perfect ,they can
be an acceptable alternative. If your work is average, don’t try this route, you will have a lot of
headaches.

Digital impressions will quickly transform lab relationships going forward and I would want to
be positioned with someone well versed in emerging technologies. Milling machines are also
changing the laboratory landscape but in my opinion this requires a substantial constant flow
of crown and bridge before it can be considered. Stepping into this arena too early can be very
costly and stressful. There are hidden costs with in house milling that sales people often don’t
disclose such as dedicated rooms and personnel .

The cost and competitiveness of the digital impression world is very much in its infancy. Prices
will surely decline as economies of scale and competition heats up. From a technological
standpoint, the scanners are there. They are worlds better than the early attempts. This will be
the area of greatest change in the every day practice in the near future. Now that you know
how to evaluate your costs, just be sure everything lines up.

Wages

This is the largest area of your overhead (25%) and it is a constant challenge to manage. In
my opinion, 99% of the offices in the country are overstaffed and do not know it. There is an
old adage that is so applicable to the dental office.

“The job at hand expands to fill the time allowed”

I first experienced how prevalent this attitude is in the workplace my second year in dental
school. I had landed my best paying summer job. It was over $6 an hour job at a local factory
and for 1980, that was a high dollar job. It was a go for job under the direction of a union

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