The FCZ Dilemma

A 2014 Fee Survey participant from the Midwest—who prefers to remain anonymous—offers a thoughtful take on how the rampant price competition on full contour zirconia restorations is negatively affecting the bottom line of many laboratories.  Here’s what he had to say:

In the early 1980s, the price of gold skyrocketed and non-precious alloy showed up on the scene. Since it was a cheap metal, most labs didn’t even add the cost of the metal into the crown fee. However, they weren’t thinking about the revenue they had been making on gold alloys—or about the increase in labor because non-precious takes longer to finish—so their profitability suffered.

A similar trend is happening with FCZ. In many laboratories, FCZ is cannibalizing their PFM work and the labs are losing the alloy revenue. And, as the economy has declined, so has the price of FCZ: the $99 FCZ was born, quickly gained market penetration and the race to the bottom...