What should a dentist demand from a partner lab?

A dentist should demand five things from a partner lab: a production timeline defined in writing, a rework policy agreed before the first case, a portfolio with real photos of delivered work, direct communication with the technician who builds the case, and compatibility with your workflow, especially if you scan intraorally. Without these five points, the partnership runs on goodwill, and goodwill does not hold a clinical schedule together.

Everything else, price, materials, esthetics, comes after that. A lab that delivers beautiful work but runs two weeks late wrecks your planning with the patient. A cheap lab that misses the shade costs you an entire rework session.

I talk with dentists every week at dentraw LAB, and the most common complaint is not price: it is unpredictability. Below I break down each demand and how to enforce it in practice.

What are the 5 minimum things to demand from a dental lab?

Before sending the first case, align these five points with the lab:

1. Written turnaround times. "About ten days" does not count. "Ceramic veneer: 10 business days from model receipt" does. If a lab will not commit in writing, it does not control its own process.
2. A rework policy. What happens when a case comes back wrong? Who pays for the remake? How fast does it ship? Agree on this before you need it.
3. A portfolio with real photos. Photos of cases the lab itself delivered, with before and after, not ceramic catalog imagery.
4. A direct line to the technician. When the shade does not match or the margin needs adjustment, you need to talk to the person who made the piece, not only the sales desk.
5. Workflow compatibility. If you scan, the lab must accept STL files. If you work with impressions, it must respect the material you use.

If a lab hesitates on any of these five, that hesitation is the answer you needed.

How do I know if a lab actually works with a digital workflow?

Ask directly: "Do you accept STL files from intraoral scans?" and "Which milling machine or 3D printer do you run?" A lab with a real digital workflow answers immediately, with equipment names and file formats. A lab that is "getting into digital" will answer in vague phrases.

A digital workflow changes the daily reality of the partnership in concrete ways:

Point	Analog workflow	Digital workflow
Case submission	Physical impression, shipping, days of waiting	STL file sent the same day
Model preservation	Impression can warp or break	File stays identical, archived forever
Design adjustments	Phone calls and descriptions	Technician and dentist look at the same design on screen
Remakes	New impression almost every time	Reuses the same file

Neither workflow guarantees quality. An excellent analog lab outperforms a disorganized digital one. But if you already invested in a scanner, demand that your partner keeps up.

What should I do when the lab misses a deadline or delivers a defective case?

The best answer happens before the problem: the rework protocol. When none exists, follow this order:

1. Document in writing. Photo of the piece, delivery date, what falls outside the agreement. Without records, the conversation becomes a memory dispute.
2. Talk to the technician, not only the sales desk. A lot of bad output comes from instructions passed along poorly. One direct conversation fixes more than three emails.
3. Give one second chance with a deadline. Mistakes happen in every lab. What defines a partner is the speed and transparency of the correction.
4. Reevaluate if it repeats. Two remakes for the same reason, at the same lab, point to a process problem, not bad luck.

The cost of a remake goes beyond the piece: an extra clinical session, materials, an idle operatory, and worst of all, the trust of a patient who organized their life around the cementation date.

Is the cheapest lab worth it?

In my experience talking with dentists at dentraw LAB, almost never. The math that matters is not the price of the piece, it is the cost per finished case. A lab that is 30% cheaper but generates a remake every few cases ends up more expensive than a consistent partner, because every remake consumes chair time, the most expensive input in the practice.

What I suggest evaluating instead of price alone:

• Cost per finished case, including remakes and extra sessions.
• Real average turnaround, not the promised one. Ask other dentists who already use the lab.
• Esthetic consistency. Look at three cases of the same type, not only the best case in the portfolio.
• Communication. A lab that warns you before a delay is worth more than one that delivers fast and goes silent when something goes wrong.

How does case presentation change what you should demand?

There is one point almost nobody demands from the lab and should: understanding the case before execution. When the dentist shows the patient a smile simulation and the patient approves that image, the expectation is locked in as a photo. If the lab never receives that reference, it works blind.

I saw this up close in a veneer case where the dentist sent only the impression and the shade tab. The lab delivered technically correct work, but with a shape different from what the patient had approved in the simulation. The patient looked in the mirror and said "that is not what I saw." Full remake, split cost, a lost week. Since then I tell every dentist: send the lab the same image the patient approved. With Preview from dentraw LAB, that simulation comes from the patient's own photo and becomes the visual reference for the entire case.

Demand that the lab works from the approved reference, not only from the written technical prescription.

FAQ

What are the 5 minimum things to demand from a dental lab? A written production timeline, a clear rework policy, a portfolio with real case photos, a direct line to the technician handling your case, and compatibility with your workflow, digital or analog.

How do I know if a lab actually works with a digital workflow? Ask directly whether the lab accepts STL files from intraoral scans and which milling machine or 3D printer it uses. A digital lab answers immediately, without hesitation.

What should I do when the lab misses a deadline or delivers a defective case? Trigger the rework protocol you agreed on before the first case. If none exists, document what happened, talk to the technical lead, and reconsider the partnership if the problem repeats.

Is the cheapest lab worth it? Rarely. The cost of a single remake, with an extra clinical session, materials, and lost patient trust, usually outweighs the price difference between a cheap lab and a consistent partner.

Where can I find vetted partner labs? dentraw LAB has a partner lab directory at /en/laboratorios, where dentists can search by region and type of work.

If you are switching labs or opening a new prosthetics line, check the dentraw LAB partner lab directory and start the conversation with these five points already on the table.

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• Prosthetics lab: how to reduce rework with the dentist?
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