6 Keys to Choosing the Right Dental Lab for Your Practice
As a dentist, you want to offer your patients the best services possible. If they don’t trust you or have confidence in your abilities, then they won’t come back. They also won’t recommend that their friends and family come to visit you. As part of offering them the best, you need to work with the right dental lab.
Not all labs are created equal. When it comes to finding the right lab for your dental practice, there are some things you’ll need to look for. Read on to discover what these are.
6 Keys to Choosing the Right Dental Lab for Your Practice
1. They Offer Quality Products
Probably one of the most important keys you’ll need to consider when looking for the right lab is the quality of the products they offer. There are certain things that will let you know the lab upholds high standards. These include the following:
- National Board Certification in Dental Laboratory Technology
- Up-to-date technology
- Uses material certified by the FDA
It’s also advised that you request samples from the lab to determine if they meet your standards. If not, you’ll want to keep looking.
Do You Use ADA-Approved Materials in Your Practice?
When it comes to finding the right lab with high-quality products, another thing you’ll need to consider is whether you offer ADA-approved materials to your patients.
If you make promises to your patients that you are using products that meet certain standards, the lab you work with should help you keep your word. Ask to see where they get their materials from and double-check to make sure their providers are reputable and ADA approved.
The last thing you need is to work with a lab that attempts to cut costs by using suppliers that copy another manufacturer’s alloy or low-grade materials. You don’t want an inferior product that won’t stand the test of time or use.
2. They Are Consistent
In addition to offering quality products, the dental lab you work with should also be consistent. It’s easy to create one sample that looks really good. The true test is the lab’s ability to produce the same high-quality products even when filling large orders.
Of course, no company is going to be perfect, and mistakes might happen from time to time. However, this shouldn’t occur on a frequent basis.
Some of the things you’ll need to question when it comes to consistency include how quickly work is turned around and what the lab’s quality control process looks like. If they rush, this could be an indication that you aren’t getting a good product. Without a quality control process in place, the products you get could vary widely — and that’s not a good thing.
3. Their Technicians Have Been Trained Properly
4. Committed to Continuing Education
5. Outstanding Customer Service
It shouldn’t be hard to tell how helpful the customer service department is going to be. After your initial contact, when you call to have them answer questions about working with them, if they are prompt, helpful and reliable, this could be a good indicator that they go out of their way to make sure their customers are happy.
6. They Are Willing to Form a Partnership
No lab is perfect, and if they are willing to improve, they should be able to address any complaints or issues and use that as an opportunity to improve their products or services. This ensures that their reputation and yours remains intact.
It will take some time and effort to find the right dental lab for your practice, but it’s necessary to go through the process. You go out of your way to offer your patients the best in care, and the lab you work with should do the same. Call Prudental Labs today for more information or to get answers to questions you might have about how we can support your patients and practice.
