Most dental professionals have experienced it — restorations gone wrong. The national average for dental laboratory remakes in the U.S. is 4%. While that number may seem low, remakes add up in replacement costs and increased chair time.
According to the Academy of General Dentistry, the average overhead of a U.S. dental practice is approximately $600,000 per year, a number based on seeing patients an average of 200 days per year. If you break that down, it equates to an overhead cost of approximately $375 per hour. A prescient practice considers the impact restoration remakes have on its overhead as even 4% can quickly erode your margins.
Inaccurate Restoration — Now What?
Your patient is ready and waiting for their new smile now that their restoration has come back from the lab. But as try to adjust the fit, you know that this will not work, as does the patient. You know you have only two options: Send it back to the first lab or find a new lab for a remake. Here’s where it can get tricky. Dental labs vary in their fine print. There will also always be a question of whether you or the lab made the mistake. If you have a long, trusted, and established relationship with your lab, this tends to be less of an issue. But for many dentists, this remake process is more challenging.
Ways to Avoid Costly Remakes
While it may initially seem like a time-draining endeavor, finding a skilled, communicative, and reliable lab is the best way to ensure accuracy with your restorations and continue seeding your credibility with your patients. However, if you decide to send it back to your original lab, we suggest these steps to achieve better outcomes for both your remake and future restorations.
Over-communicating and collaborating is critical for getting the details correct. The lab will appreciate you taking the time to ensure that they have the information they need to job the professionally and skillfully. Ask them questions and insist on receiving every piece of information you need to ensure the desired outcome. Request updates every step of the way. Conversely, if the lab does not flag missing information or is unavailable for your questions, escalate your concerns. If this does not resolve the situation, consider severing the relationship.
Partner with a Laboratory Built on Quality
Success comes down to one significant distinction — the lab with which you work. A perception from patients is that a crown from one lab will be the same as from another. Of course, we know this to be untrue. By working with a reputable lab, one that employs dedicated, certified, and experienced technicians, you are putting your case in the hands of unmatched expertise. The best labs will make sure that they clearly understand your preferences and expectations, thus minimizing the amount of time and money lost on adjustments and remakes. Quality labs hang their hats on high standards and provide outstanding customer service. Your partnership is what drives them. From beginning to end and all the way through, your experience matters and is supported with proprietary workflows to ensure accuracy, quality, and timeliness. At the end of the day, what they want is for your patient to have their best smile back — the first time.
Know Your End Result from the Beginning
There is an appeal to a dental laboratory that promises super quick turnarounds at rock-bottom prices, but as the saying goes, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” One case may come back from the lab with no problem, but the next one may have serious issues. Using a cheaper lab with a higher remake rate can cost you more money in the long run than a lab that delivers one that fits the first time it’s inserted. Another reason to use high-quality labs is the “grey market.” This is a generic term that primarily refers to dental products that are traded or sold outside of the manufacturer’s authorized distribution channels. Labs should be certified, clearly state where their devices are sourced and manufactured, as well as provide traceability reports. What you put in your patients’ mouths matters.
One Labʼs Mess… Can be Fixed
Labs with decades of experience will be able to jump in and put your case back on the road to success no matter the issue. Understanding where the restoration went wrong can help make it right. Some aspects might be obvious, but often the errors are not as black and white. When you work with an exceptional lab you’ll be guided to get the case back on track, whether your patient is in the chair for their first fitting or are back for the permanent placement.
A lab, such as Kuwata Pan Dent, can manage your case and be able to identify what is needed, missing, or incorrect and set you moving again. This is also true for patients working with a second dentist. Your lab is your quality control line of defense, scrutinizing the details and finding the correct solution for every case. Kuwata was built on a foundation of combining master craftsmanship, innovation, and superlative quality.
Known for the perfect fit the first time, Kuwata’s history of excellence will ensure you will not see the breakdowns that may happen with other labs. Kuwata has the reputation of being the lab that can turn around an imperfect restoration from another lab and make it right. Getting that accurate fit the first time is what continues to help grow a leading, trusted, and highly experienced dental practice.