Some Things Never Change: Inadequate Impressions Still Labs' Biggest Client Headache

By Maribeth Marsico

Posted Mar 26, 2015 in LMT Surveys

Laboratory respondents to our State of the Industry 2015 survey ranked clients’ impression-taking skills as their number-one client-related challenge, saying one quarter of the impressions that come into their laboratory are inadequate, a result of dentists not following manufacturers’ guidelines, delegating the task to assistants, or just not carefully evaluating the impressions before sending them to the lab.


While 94% of laboratory-respondents say they’re comfortable calling their clients for replacement impressions, they often still hear those words that make most of them cringe: do the best you can.


“I cannot do the best I can without a good impression. Just one or two minutes of their time could save so much on both sides,” says Carol Sullivan, CDT, Owner, Dental Lab Solutions, Loveland, CO. “I often just refuse those impressions or I send the model to the doctor and ask him to trim the die or reimpress. After that happens...

Please Log In or Sign Up (it's free) to read the rest of this article
About The Author

  • Maribeth Marsico

    Senior Editor at LMT Communications, Inc. · Cheshire, CT

    A 30-year veteran of the editorial department, Maribeth loves getting to the heart of the story. She especially enjoys creating and analyzing reader surveys and staying in touch with our readers.

Please Log In or Sign Up to post to this article