How to evaluate dental lab work?

For general dentists placing 15 to 30 indirect restorations per month, lab evaluation starts at the margin. A crown margin that opens beyond 120 microns under an explorer tip is a clinical liability regardless of how good the shade looks. The practical test: seat the unit dry, check the margin with an explorer, verify no rocking on the prep, then confirm occlusal contacts with 40-micron Shimstock foil before cementation. If any step fails, that is a remake, and a remake costs 45 to 90 minutes of chair time.

Shade and surface anatomy are the second pass. Hold the unit against the natural tooth under both operatory light and ambient light. Monolithic zirconia and layered porcelain read differently under different light sources, so checking in only one condition misses metamerism failures. Surface texture, depth of characterization, and incisal translucency should match the adjacent dentition without requiring in-office staining to correct.

The clearest long-term signal is remake rate, tracked per lab, per restoration type, over rolling 90-day windows. A lab that sends its remake history on request, broken down by crown, bridge, and implant unit, is operating with process accountability. One that cannot produce that number is working without a feedback loop. Ask for the number before you sign a shipping agreement, not after your third redo case in a quarter.