ANSWERS

How do dentists evaluate lab partnerships?

Dentists evaluate lab partnerships on five anchors: turnaround time stated in days not weeks, remake rate below 3%, technician accessibility on active cases, transparent pricing without procurement friction, and digital workflow compatibility with the practice's intraoral scanner.

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Why it works this way

The five criteria that actually decide the partnership

Most dentists rank labs on the same five anchors, though the order shifts by specialty. Turnaround time comes first for general restorative practices: a crown that ships in 5 business days protects chair time, a crown that ships in 12 days forces a temporary, a follow-up appointment, and patient friction. Remake rate comes second. The 2024 LMT Lab Management survey of 412 practices found 68% of dentists who switched labs in the prior 18 months cited remakes or fit issues as the primary trigger, with communication breakdowns as the secondary.

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What is a good remake rate for a dental lab?

Industry benchmark sits around 3-5% for crown and bridge work, per LMT Lab Management's 2023 industry report. Labs above 5% signal a quality control gap that will cost the practice chair time. Dani Dental Studio tracks remake rate by technician and by case category, with the target held below 2.5% on crown and bridge. Full-arch and implant cases are tracked separately because the complexity profile is different.

How fast should a dental lab turnaround a crown?

Standard PFM or zirconia crown turnaround for a digital workflow is 5 to 7 business days from scan receipt to ship. Analog impressions add 2 to 3 days for model work. Full-contour monolithic zirconia from a digital scan can ship in 4 business days at labs with in-house milling. Complex anterior cases with layered porcelain and custom shade matching legitimately need 8 to 10 days; faster is not always better when esthetics are the deliverable.

Should a dental practice use one lab or multiple labs?

Most established restorative practices consolidate to one primary lab for 70-80% of volume and keep a secondary lab for specialty cases or overflow. Single-lab consolidation simplifies communication, billing, and case tracking. It also earns volume-based pricing and priority turnaround. Small DSOs with 10 to 30 offices increasingly move to single-lab partnerships for the same reasons, plus quality consistency across locations. Past 50 offices the procurement model usually requires multiple lab contracts.

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This answer is one piece of a larger workflow. The pillar page covers materials, turnaround, and how we build the case to your specification.

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