Don't Count Them Out Yet: Small Labs Catching Up with the Digital Revolution

We’ve heard it many times during the last decade: digital technology will be the death of the small laboratory. But while the challenges that small operations face in an increasingly capital-intensive era are very real, a growing number of them are bucking that prediction and embracing technology in order to stay competitive. In fact, according to LMT’s 2017 Digital Technology Survey, the percentage of one- to five-person laboratories offering digitally fabricated C&B restorations has increased 24 percentage points—from 56% to 80%—in the last two years alone.* 

And not only are more small labs getting involved, but digitally fabricated restorations are making up an increasingly larger portion of their workload. For example, of the one- to five-person laboratories that offer digital restorations:

• 59% of their C&B caseload is milled, compared to only 45% in 2015.


• 70%...
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