Guides for dental labs and practices
Practical writing on lab cases, prescriptions, Chair Time and running a lab, for Canadian practices and labs.
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A dental lab prescription has to name the patient, the teeth, the restoration, the material, the shade and the date. This checklist covers every case type.
Practices stay with the dental lab that is easy to work with. Here is what a dentist notices, the early signs a practice is drifting, and what to do.
Every practice tracks lab cases somehow. Here is what a tracking system has to do, where a spreadsheet works, and when software earns its place.
An in-house dental lab pays off with steady volume, someone to run it and a use for the speed. Here is how to weigh it against sending work out.
Under the Canadian Dental Care Plan, lab fees are reimbursed when they are reasonable and customary. Here is what that means for practices and labs.
No single lab management system suits every Canadian dental lab. Here is what to check, and what four established products say about themselves.
All guides
No single lab management system suits every Canadian dental lab. Here is what to check, and what four established products say about themselves.
A scanner’s cloud portal tracks the digital order for scans from that scanner. Here is what three makers document, and what a shared case tracks as well.
Dental lab turnaround is quoted in in-lab working days, and it varies by lab and by product. Here is how to read a schedule and book the seat appointment.
A new lab workflow sticks when it starts small. Here is how a dental practice can change how it sends and tracks lab cases without losing chair time.
A small dental lab wins on access, memory and the cases that need attention. Here is how to choose your ground, use digital on your own terms and show it.
Feedback helps a dental lab when it is specific, prompt and tied to a case. Here is what to say after a seat, when to say it, and how to raise a problem.
An implant crown depends on parts that must match the implant in the patient’s mouth. Here is what a dental lab needs on the Rx to start the case.
FDI notation names each tooth with two digits, the quadrant and the position. Here is how to read it, write it on a lab Rx and avoid mix-ups.
Moving a dental lab’s practices onto one platform takes about a month of small steps. Here is a week-by-week plan, and what changes for each role.
A lab statement shows fees. The real cost of a dental lab includes remakes, adjustments and moved appointments. Here is how to work it out per lab.
A dental lab gets paid faster when each invoice can be matched to a patient at a glance. Here is what to put on invoices and statements, and when.
A few consistent photos tell a dental lab what a scan cannot. Here is the set to take, how to take a shade photo, and how to send them with the case.
Choosing a dental lab in Metro Vancouver comes down to driver routes, licensing and how the lab communicates. Here is what to check before you send a case.
Night guards and other appliances are the lab cases a practice forgets most easily. Here is why they slip, and a routine that gets each one delivered.
A dental lab fee schedule starts from what each product costs to make. Here is how Canadian labs build one, with GST/HST and the federal plan in mind.
An STL file holds the shape of a scan and nothing else. A PLY file can hold colour as well. Here is what each gives a dental lab, and which to send.
A digital impression reaches the dental lab in minutes and needs no model poured. Here is what changes at intake and at the bench, and what stays the same.
When a patient arrives and the lab case has not, the next ten minutes matter. Here is what to check, what to say, and how to use the visit and rebook.
A production board shows every case in a dental lab, where it is and when it is due. Here is how to run one on a whiteboard, a spreadsheet or software.
Scans go missing when the files and the Rx travel separately. Here are the four ways to send intraoral scans to a dental lab, and a check for each case.
Data residency means the country where patient information is stored. Here is what Canadian privacy law says about it, and what to ask a software vendor.
A smile trial lets a patient see and feel planned veneers before any tooth is prepared. Here is how the mock-up is made and what the lab needs.
Choosing a dental lab comes down to the work, the communication and the dates. Ask these 12 questions before a first case, and know what a good answer is.
Seven numbers show a dental lab owner how the week went, from on-time delivery to remake rate. Here is how to count each one and what to do with them.
A paper lab slip and a digital Rx ask for the same details. Here is what changes for the practice and the lab when the Rx goes digital, and what does not.
Many dental labs run on a spreadsheet, an inbox and a phone. Here is what that setup does well, where it breaks, and how to move off it safely.
A dental practice stays accountable for patient information it gives a software vendor. Here are 12 questions to ask, and what Canadian law expects.
Use as many dental labs as you have kinds of work that need different strengths, and no more than your team can track. Here is how to decide.
A fair remake policy says what a dental lab covers, what it needs from the practice and how a claim is handled. Here is what to put in one, part by part.
Phone tag between a dental practice and its lab costs staff time on both sides and days on the case. Here is how to count it, and how to cut it.
A digital crown passes through eight steps between the scan and the seat. Here is each one, who does it, and what the practice and the lab hand over.
Since 1 April 2026, BC dental technicians work under the Oral Health Professionals Regulation. Here is what it says on titles, scope and prescriptions.
The front desk books the seat, checks the case is in the building and tells the patient when it is not. Here is a routine for each of those jobs.
Dentists add a lab for a kind of work, on a recommendation or after a problem. Here is how a dental lab earns that first case, and the ones after it.
Dental lab cases rarely get lost in transit. They go missing at the handoffs between the practice and the lab. Here is where, and how to stop it.
Printing night guards in a dental practice takes seven steps, and each can stall. Here is the workflow, who does what, and how to keep the queue moving.
A doctor portal belongs to one lab’s software. A shared case is opened by the lab and the practice alike. Here is how the two models differ for a lab.
A late lab case costs a practice chair time only when it is a surprise. Here is how to see late cases coming, and what to do with the days you gain.
Practices stay with the dental lab that is easy to work with. Here is what a dentist notices, the early signs a practice is drifting, and what to do.
A shade code alone rarely gives a dental lab enough. Here is what a technician needs to match a tooth, from photos and stump shades to a shade map.
A crown under the Canadian Dental Care Plan needs approval before treatment starts. Here is what the request needs, and how to keep the lab case moving.
A same-day crown saves the patient a visit, and a lab crown brings a technician’s hand. Here is how a practice that does both decides which to use.
A free dental lab case tracking sheet with the ten columns a practice needs, a daily routine to keep it honest, and the signs you have outgrown it.
An incomplete Rx stops a case at the bench. Here is what goes missing, why it happens, and the intake habits that get a dental lab a complete Rx.
A crown Rx needs no phone call when it names the tooth, the material, the shade, the margin, the bite and the date. Here is what to write for each one.
Under the Canadian Dental Care Plan, lab fees are reimbursed when they are reasonable and customary. Here is what that means for practices and labs.
An in-house dental lab pays off with steady volume, someone to run it and a use for the speed. Here is how to weigh it against sending work out.
Every practice tracks lab cases somehow. Here is what a tracking system has to do, where a spreadsheet works, and when software earns its place.
Status calls pull technicians off the bench. Here is why practices phone to ask where a case is, how to count the calls, and six changes that cut them.
A dental lab prescription has to name the patient, the teeth, the restoration, the material, the shade and the date. This checklist covers every case type.