Do you know that dental labs are instrumental to a good, progressive dental practice? They are used to customize or manufacture various crowns, bridges, dentures, and other critical dental products.
Most prosthodontists today prefer to have their dental labs. It is probably because it ensures that their patients receive the best fitting and highest quality products.
Any dental lab will use a wide range of technological innovations to create your dental restorations. Advance digital scanners, 3d printers, and high-tech milling machines help technicians construct devices that are ideally suited for your unique dental needs.
Dental labs can customize the product to best fit the needs of each patient. This process ensures that your dentist’s dental procedures are safe and work well for the patient. It is important to note that the flexibility of owning a dental lab is beneficial for the dentist and the prosthodontist. The dental lab can help create customized solutions and procedural plans for their patients. To know more on the topic, read below.
What is a Dental Lab?
Though the name might sound a bit hi-tech and perhaps even a little frightening, in reality, a dental lab is a place that manufactures and customizes numerous different products. These products are designed to improve oral health and hygiene. They also improve good dental care.
A dental lab is where dental restorative, cosmetic, prosthetic, and therapeutic devices are fabricated. Even orthodontic appliances are fabricated here. Additionally, these dental appliances are also altered or repaired by one or more persons working in the lab. What type of lab the dentist will require is completely dependent on what type of lab you operate and what types of restorations you want to create.
You can also understand it as a dental workroom operated as a part of a dental office or otherwise. It is generally operated by a dentist engaged in constructing, repairing, or altering prosthetic dentures, orthodontics, bridges, or other appliances. These are structures your dentist will use to substitute for your teeth and teeth or jaws.
These dental products are then supplied to fully licensed dentists. So, in basic terms, any dentures or false teeth that patients have fitted are often manufactured by the dental lab. Before being supplied to various dentists and dental surgeries, these are first prepared at the dental lab. Other products include:
- Dentures
- False teeth
- Prosthetic devices
- Dental implants
- Orthodontic products
Role of Dental Lab in Dentistry
As you might be aware dental technology is critical to the success in dentistry and is both a science and an art. It is interesting to know the materials and craftsmanship to be a great dental technician.
Rarely are people familiar with the role of the dental lab in dentistry because they work in coordination with dentists behind the scenes. In simple terms, dental labs often fill prescriptions that a dentist submits. It could be to fabricate whatever appliance, restoration, or prosthesis the dentist requests in writing. But, it is so much more than that.
Interestingly, three distinct factors differentiate what a lab generally produces for you. They often mean materials, craftsmanship, and the level of expertise.
What Makes a Good Dental Lab?
Like most things in life, there are good things and bad things too. The dental lab market is labs located all over the world. Some will be better than others.
An excellent dental lab should be able to precisely and carefully follow instructions and specifications clearly and carefully, especially those mentioned in patients’ prescriptions.
The lab assistants should also maintain great customer relations with dentists and dental surgeries. It should include responding to queries from the dentist or the patient regarding any of the manufactured products.
The dentist should also be able to recognize possible problems or defects with the products manufactured. Moreover, they should precisely and skillfully rectify the issue at the earliest.
Other roles often include negotiating fees and order quantities. All these tasks help ensure they can deliver the materials and products required by a specified date.
However, perhaps most important of all is keeping up to date with the ever-changing market and manufacturing process. In addition, the dentist and the team need to constantly educate their employees about the latest dental procedures and processes. It helps to stay ahead of the times.
Why is Dental Lab Important?
When going in for dental work, you might have heard your dentist say something needs to come back from the lab. Only then can the next phase of treatment begin. Many patients have little understanding of what a dental laboratory is. Or why do these facilities often play such a vital part in dental care?
Dental labs, according to the ADA, generally create the following products:
- Full dentures for patients who have missing teeth (all missing teeth).
- Partial, removable dentures for patients who are missing one or only a few of their teeth.
- Crowns that can restore your teeth to their original size and shape.
- Fixed bridges for those who are missing one or a few of their teeth.
- Implant crowns and implant bridges in zirconia.
- Functionally and aesthetically enhancing veneers.
- Splints and orthodontic appliances that often straighten and protect your teeth.
- Do you know that dental labs work with many different materials? These may include plastics, waxes, precious, and non-precious alloys. It may also include stainless steel, a variety of porcelains, composite or polymer glass combinations.
The dental technicians working in these labs are skilled in using sophisticated lab equipment and instruments to create these products. They excel in performing laboratory procedures. They need to pay attention to building these functional pieces and making them attractive. The patients should be satisfied with both the look and functionality of the product used for their dental procedures.
Questions You Might Have Related to Dental Lab?
Of course, when you visit a new dentist, you are likely to have questions. Choosing the right dentist to complete your dental procedure is essential.
Sometimes, you do not know precisely what you should ask to get the information you need. If you meet a new dentist, prosthodontist, or other dental professionals who own a dental lab, you can ask them these questions.
- If the dentist personally has been to the lab?
- How long has the team used this lab and its products?
- Does the dentist perform quality checks on their work?
- Are the manufacturer parts and hardware as per the rules and regulations?
- Are all of their materials ADA-approved?
Of course, these questions are only a starting point. Even before you start discussing your specific concerns with your dentist, you should make sure you feel comfortable having them perform the procedure.
Most dentists work with renowned dental labs to give their patients even better results for every procedure. It is all done to satisfy all patients after the dental procedure. It is important to note that having a dental lab helps us deliver better results.
FAQs on Dental Lab
What are Some Devices Created in a Dental Laboratory?
Many of the techniques used to restore and repair your smile require the fabrication of dental restorations. They may include bridges, crowns, implant prosthetics and full or partial dentures. Some of these dental devices can be created in your dentist’s office. But most of them need to be crafted using highly specialized equipment and technology at the dental lab.
What Kind of Technology is Used to Create Dental Restorations?
Today any dental lab will make use of a wide range of technological innovations to create your dental restorations. Advanced digital scanners, high-tech milling machines, and 3D printers help technicians construct devices that are perfectly suited for a person’s unique dental needs.
New materials they use are also part of dental lab innovation. There is a great deal of research on the new ceramics material that enables stronger and more esthetic dental restorations.
Do Dental Labs Meet Current FDA Standards?
The FDA considers most of these dental prosthetics to be medical devices. As a result, they are regulated and must meet the standards of FDA manufacturing practice. They must also meet their quality requirements. Moreover, all dental labs are expected to maintain high standards when it comes to the creation or making of these specialized devices.
Picking the Right Dental Lab
If you are interested in learning more and are looking for dental lab equipment for dental lab then reach out to our office. We would be happy to schedule a consultation to discuss your situation and what all equipment you might need.
The team can walk you through the various instruments and dental tools available that would make your treatment better and easier. We can also demonstrate how you can use this equipment in your dental lab to create the best product-based solution for you.
As with all services, some options are always better than others for dental labs. But the most important is that – the dentist must build solid relationships with the labs that create their dental restorations and work as a team. Remember that knowing about them can help you improve the look and function of your teeth and find your best possible smile.
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