Synergy in Action: The Dentist-Lab Connection in the 21st Century

By Burney Croll, DDS

I’ve been a practicing prosthodontist for the last 50 years, graduating from the SUNY School of Dentistry in 1968 and receiving my Certificate in Prosthodontics from Tufts University in 1972. Though my mentors in my formative years were mostly dentists, the common thread among...

In 1986, Rick Knecht had just opened RGK Dental Lab in Somerset, PA, when he met Dr. John Leitner, who had just bought a practice in a nearby town. “This young guy walks into my practice saying he just finished dental technology school, opened his own C&B lab and wanted my business,”...

At five-person R Dental Ceramics in Solana Beach, CA, staff members often become like family to Co-Owners Carol and Bill Pilmer. Case in point: their relationship with Dr. Sussi Yamaguchi, who was applying to dental school when she worked at the laboratory in 2002.

Although she worked in the lab for...

LMT asked dentist-participants in our 2018 Dentist Survey to rank the challenges they assume laboratory owners face. Interestingly, they were correct in choosing the top two, saying a lab’s biggest struggles are hiring competent staff (which lab owners ranked as their #2 problem) and making do...

In LMT’s joint survey with Dental Economics, 46% of dentists say they’ve switched their primary laboratory—meaning the one they use most often—in the last five years. Here’s what leads them to end laboratory relationships and what they look for next time around. 

The...

Editor’s Note: During his presentation at 3Shape’s Inaugural Community Symposium last fall, Lyndon F. Cooper, DDS, PhD, explained the positive impact of digital technology now and in the future. The following is excerpted from his lecture in which he focused on four main benefits of digital...

LMT asked dentist-participants in our 2018 Dentist Survey what they want laboratory owners and managers to know. Here’s what they have to say:

Fifty-nine percent of laboratories now accept digital impressions and most laud the technology for streamlining workflows and allowing them to shorten their turnaround. Currently, they consider about one quarter of the intraoral scans they receive to be inadequate; however, most say the quality of these...

A decade ago, many laboratory owners felt “all dressed up with nowhere to go,” as they were fired up about digital dentistry but struggled to get their dentist-clients on board. In fact, in 2010, only 50% of laboratories said clients were interested in trying new technologies and only one-third...

If you want to truly earn dentists’ loyalties, you need to discover their pain points. Only when you know what they find frustrating, nerve-racking or gut-wrenching can you implement services or strategies to help give them peace of mind and ultimately build long-term relationships. “I’ve...

1. Set standards. Once the dentist is ready to start sending cases, establish what you need from him. While the software that accompanies the scanner walks the dentist through obtaining the three pieces of information you need—prep arch, opposing arch and bite scan—there are details that...

The landscape of the dental industry is ever-changing: demographic shifts, business model transitions and technological evolutions present new opportunities and challenges for dentists and laboratories alike. Proactive laboratories are making a point

Dr. Roger Levin, Founder of Levin Group and an expert in the field of practice management and marketing, helps you understand your customers’ pain points and offers advice for streamlining processes and tightening controls you can share with your dentist-clients.

As a dentist and dental consultant...