Partnership Strategies for Clients with Chairside Technology

For three decades, labs have been competing with chairside milling and, more recently, 3D printing in the dental office. Adopting the philosophy, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” some innovative lab owners are finding effective ways to become a valuable resource to clients who use these technologies. Here are two examples:

Six months ago, one of Conrad Rensburg’s clients purchased a printer and began outsourcing his denture try-in designs to the manufacturer’s suggested commercial design center and printing them in house. Unhappy with the results, the dentist contacted Rensburg for help. Rensburg quickly realized an opportunity to meet his need; he began offering a service where the lab designs the try-in and returns the STL file within two days for the dentist to print, provided the final denture is fabricated by his laboratory.

Now, 25 of his clients are using the design service. “Since these doctors are used to our quality,...