Spreadsheets, email and text vs case management software for dental labs
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.
By the Tusko team
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A spreadsheet, a shared inbox and a phone will run a small dental lab. They cost almost nothing, and everyone already knows how to use them.
They stop working at a predictable point. Cases, people and practices multiply, and no single tool holds the whole case any more.
This guide covers what the patchwork does well, where each piece breaks, and how to move to case management software without stopping the bench.
What the patchwork gets right
It is worth being fair to it. Three things are hard to beat.
- It is free, or close to it. The lab already pays for email and a phone.
- It bends to anything. A new column or a new folder takes a minute and no training.
- Practices need nothing new. They send work the way they always have.
For a lab with a handful of practices and one person at intake, that can be the right setup. The trouble starts with growth.
Where each tool breaks
Each tool was built for one job, and a lab case asks it to do several.
| Tool | What it does well | Where it breaks |
|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheet | One list of every case | Nobody outside the lab can see it, and two editors collide |
| A written record | The record is split across inboxes, away from the case | |
| Text messages | A quick answer from a dentist | The answer lives on one person’s phone |
| Phone | Solving a problem in one conversation | Nothing is written down unless someone does it afterwards |
| Paper in the case pan | The Rx travels with the work | Only the person holding the pan can read it |
| Whiteboard | Everyone at the bench sees today’s work | Yesterday is wiped, and nobody off site can look |
The pattern across that table is the same. Every tool holds one slice of the case, and no tool holds it whole.
Text messages also follow people home. Dr. Joel Gaudet, the dentist who founded Tusko, describes that from the practice side:
“Sometimes a lab calls or texts me on a Saturday and I don’t see it until I’m home. Then I can’t reply until I’m back in the office, because I don’t have my cases in front of me.”
Dr. Joel Gaudet, Wave Dentistry
A fair test: follow one case
Before deciding anything, pick one case that shipped last month and trace it.
Write down every place its information lived. The Rx, the scans, the due date, each question and each answer.
Count the places. Then count how many people would have had to be asked to rebuild the whole story.
A case that lived in two places is under control. A case that lived in six, across three people, is the argument for a change.
Do it for a remake as well. A case that went wrong shows the gaps that a smooth one hides.
The costs that do not show on a bill
Free tools are paid for in time. Four costs are easy to miss.
Typing the same thing twice. The Rx arrives by email and is typed into the sheet. A slip of the finger there is a wrong tooth later.
Searching. “What did the dentist say about the shade” should take seconds. Across two inboxes and a phone it takes minutes, several times a day.
Answering the phone. A practice that cannot see its case will call to ask. Each call stops someone at the bench.
One person who knows. When the whole picture lives in one head, that person cannot take a week off.
Our lab calculator turns the first three into hours and dollars, using your own numbers.
Signs it is time to move
No lab needs software on its first day. These are the signs that the day has come.
- A case was made from an old version of the Rx
- Two people entered the same case, or nobody did
- A practice says it never got your message, and you cannot prove it did
- The owner walks the bench each morning to find out what ships today
- Month-end statements take days, because the list has to be checked against the pans
- A new hire needs weeks to learn where everything lives
One sign is a nuisance. Three together mean the patchwork is now the slowest part of the lab.
Ask the team which of these happened last month. The people at intake know the answer before the owner does.
What software changes, and what it does not
Case management software puts the list, the Rx, the files and the messages in one record for each case.
Status changes once, where everyone can see it. A question is asked on the case and answered on the case.
Practices can look up their own work, which removes the reason for a status call. That is case tracking the lab no longer does by phone.
Some things stay the same. Software does not make a thin Rx complete, and it does not make anyone open it.
It also needs an owner, like any list. A system nobody updates is a spreadsheet with a monthly fee.
Weigh staying against moving
Both choices have a price, and it helps to see them side by side.
| Staying with the patchwork | Moving to software | |
|---|---|---|
| Money | Almost none | A subscription, and perhaps setup |
| Time now | None | Weeks of learning and double entry |
| Time later | Retyping, searching and calls, every day | Less of all three |
| Risk | A case lost between tools | A rough month while habits change |
| For practices | Nothing changes | A new way to send, and status they can see |
Neither column wins for every lab. The right-hand one wins once the daily cost on the left is larger than a month of disruption.
How to move without stopping the bench
A lab cannot close for a week to change systems. Move in stages.
Moving without stopping the bench
A flow of five stages for moving a lab to case management software: choose one or two practices to start, start with new cases only, run both for two weeks, add practices a few at a time, and retire the old list on a named date.
Choose one or two practices to start
Pick ones that send steady work and get on well with your team.
Start with new cases only
Everything already in production finishes the old way.
Run both for two weeks
Keep the old list going until the team trusts the new one.
Add practices a few at a time
Each group teaches you what the next will ask.
Retire the old list on a named date
Tell everyone, and archive it where it can still be read.
The second week can feel like the hardest. The team is doing things twice, and the benefit has not shown yet.
Keep a short list of what confused people each week. Fix the top item before you add more practices.
What changes in the first 30 days follows that period day by day.
Which kind of software
“Software” covers several different things, and they solve different problems.
Lab management systems run production and invoicing inside the lab. Best dental lab management software for Canadian labs compares four.
A doctor portal gives practices a window into one lab. Doctor portal vs shared case explains the difference.
A shared case platform gives the lab and the practice the same case. Tusko is one, with the lab’s Floor on one side and the practice’s view on the other.
See how it works for labs. For the bench side of the move, read running a dental lab production board.
Can a small dental lab run on a spreadsheet?
Yes, for a while. A lab with a few practices and one person entering cases can run well on a shared sheet. The limits arrive with a second person at intake, or with practices that expect to see status for themselves.
What is the first sign a lab has outgrown email and text?
Someone asks what was agreed on a case, and finding the answer means searching two inboxes and a phone. Once that happens weekly, the tools are costing more than they save.
Do we have to switch everything at once?
No. Start with new cases from one or two practices and leave everything in progress where it is. Old cases finish in the old system.
Will practices accept a new way of sending cases?
They will if it is quicker for them than what they do now. Show them the one thing it saves them, such as a phone call, and offer to set it up with them.
Related guides
No single lab management system suits every Canadian dental lab. Here is what to check, and what four established products say about themselves.
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 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.