The front desk guide to lab cases: due dates, confirmations and patient calls
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.
By the Tusko team
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The front desk has three jobs on every lab case.
Book the seat against a date the lab has confirmed, know the case is in the building before the patient is, and tell the patient early when it will not be.
None of them is clinical. All of them decide whether the appointment happens.
This guide gives a routine for each, with words to use on the phone.
Three jobs on every lab case
A flow of the front desk’s three jobs on a lab case: book the seat against a date the lab has confirmed, know the case is in the building before the patient is, and tell the patient early when it will not be.
Book the seat
Against a date the lab has confirmed, with a gap before the appointment.
Know the case is in
Check in every delivery, and look at the next two days each morning.
Tell the patient early
Call the day you find out a case will be late, and offer new times.
Why this sits with the front desk
The dentist cannot track lab cases from the chair. Dr. Joel Gaudet, the dentist who founded Tusko, describes a normal day:
“As a dentist, you’re running around with two main chairs going. You’re doing clinical work, trying to hit production goals, seeing hygiene patients, and all you hear all day is Dr. Joel, Dr. Joel, Dr. Joel.”
Dr. Joel Gaudet, Wave Dentistry
The assistant is in the operatory beside them. The front desk is the one place where the schedule, the phone and the deliveries meet.
That makes it the natural home for dates. It does not make it responsible for clinical answers.
| The front desk owns | The dentist and assistant own |
|---|---|
| Booking the seat appointment | What goes on the Rx |
| Checking deliveries in | Answering the lab’s clinical questions |
| The daily look at upcoming seats | Deciding what to do when a case is late |
| Calls to patients and to the lab about dates | Anything about fit, shade or design |
Agree on the split out loud. A job that two people half-own is done by neither.
Book the seat with a date in hand
The first job happens before the patient leaves.
Ask the assistant what was sent, and to which lab. Look up that lab’s turnaround for that kind of work.
Then count forward in working days, add the delivery, and leave a gap before the seat appointment. Dental lab turnaround times shows the arithmetic.
Tell the patient the date is a plan. “We will call you two days before to confirm your crown is here” sets the right expectation.
Write the seat date where the lab can see it, on the Rx or in your message. A lab that knows the date can warn you.
If the patient wants it sooner, ask the lab before you promise. A rush is the lab’s to offer.
For work that comes back in stages, book the next stage only.
Check in every delivery
The second job is knowing what is in the building.
- Open the box the day it arrives. Even on a busy afternoon.
- Match each case to a patient. Use the name on the slip, and check it against the schedule.
- Mark it received. In your list, your software, or on the appointment.
- Put it where the team expects it. One shelf, in date order.
- Flag anything odd. A case with no appointment, or an appointment with no case.
Step five catches two problems. A case that came back early for a patient not yet booked, and a case that should have been in the box and was not.
Keep the invoice that comes with it. The person who pays the lab will want it.
If a case arrives damaged, or the wrong one is in the box, phone the lab at once and tell the dentist. The appointment is the worst time to find out.
Look at tomorrow, and the day after
The third job takes five minutes every morning.
List every seat appointment for the next two working days. Beside each, write received or not received.
For anything not received, phone the lab before ten. Ask one question: what day will it arrive.
Then tell the dentist. They decide whether to wait, move the visit or use the time another way.
Once a week, look two weeks ahead for the bigger cases. How to protect chair time when lab cases run late covers that longer view.
A shared list makes the check quick. Our free case tracking sheet is laid out for it.
Make the confirmation call mean something
A confirmation call should confirm two things. That the patient is coming, and that the case is here.
Check the shelf before you dial. Confirming a seat for a case that has not arrived is how wasted trips happen.
If the case is in: “Your crown has arrived, and we are all set for Thursday at ten.”
If it is not, and the lab has given a firm day: “We are expecting your crown on Wednesday. I will ring you that afternoon to confirm.”
If nobody knows: move the appointment now, and say why.
When a case will be late
Call the patient the day you find out. A short script helps.
“I am calling about your appointment on Thursday. Your crown is not back from the lab yet, and we would sooner move you than waste your time.”
“Could you come on Monday at ten, or Tuesday at two?”
Three things make that call work.
- It comes early. Two days’ notice is an inconvenience, and ten minutes’ notice is a lost morning.
- It offers times. The patient leaves the call with a new plan.
- It blames nobody. The patient does not need the story.
Then do two more things. Tell the lab the new date, and put the freed slot on your short-notice list.
When the first you hear is the patient at the desk, read the patient is in the chair and the case isn’t back.
Take the lab’s questions properly
Labs phone the front desk with questions for the dentist. How the message is taken decides how fast the case moves.
Write down five things, every time.
- The patient’s name
- The tooth
- The question, in the lab’s own words
- Who asked, and a direct number
- When the lab needs the answer to keep its date
Hand it to the dentist with the chart open. A question on a sticky note, without the chart, waits until someone finds the chart.
Send the answer back the same day, in writing if you can. Then note that it was answered.
Do not answer for the dentist, even when the answer seems obvious. A wrong shade given in good faith still makes the wrong crown.
Cover days off
A routine that lives in one person’s head stops when they are away.
Write the morning check on one page. Keep it at the desk, with each lab’s phone number and delivery days.
Before a day off, hand over three things: what is due in, what is not yet received, and which patients are waiting on a call.
A page for the desk
- Every seat is booked against the lab’s date, with a gap
- Every delivery is opened, matched and marked the day it arrives
- Tomorrow’s and the next day’s seats are checked each morning
- Confirmation calls are made after checking the shelf
- A late case means a call to the patient that day
- The lab’s questions are written down in full and answered the same day
For the practice-wide picture, see how to track dental lab cases in your practice.
In Tusko, Chair Time shows each seat appointment beside its case, and flags a late one before the patient sits down.
See how it looks for practices.
Should the front desk phone the lab, or wait for the lab to call?
Phone, when a case with a seat in the next two working days is not in the building. Waiting saves a call and risks the appointment. For anything further out, check the status first if the lab shares one.
What do we say to a patient when the lab is late?
That the crown is not back yet and you would sooner move the visit than waste their time. Offer two new times in the same call. Leave out whose fault it was.
Who answers the lab’s clinical questions?
The dentist who wrote the Rx. The front desk’s job is to take the question down exactly, hand it over with the chart, and send the answer back the same day.
How should lab deliveries be handled at the desk?
Open each one the day it arrives, match it to a patient and an appointment, and mark it received. A sealed box on a counter is a case nobody knows about.
Related guides
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.
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 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.