How to track dental lab cases in your practice: spreadsheet vs software
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.
By the Tusko team
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A practice tracks its lab cases well when one list shows every open case, who has it and when it is due. The tool matters less than who checks it.
A spreadsheet handles a small, steady flow to one or two labs. Software earns its place when cases, labs or people multiply.
This guide covers what tracking has to do, what to record, and how to tell which tool fits your practice.
What a spreadsheet does, and what software adds
Two columns compare ways to track lab cases. A shared spreadsheet is free, flexible and familiar, but the lab cannot see it, it cannot warn anyone, and questions live elsewhere. Case tracking software lets the lab update the status, checks dates for you and keeps messages with the case, and it stops working when nobody owns it.
A shared spreadsheet
For a small, steady flow to one or two labs
- Yes: Free, flexible and familiar
- No: The lab cannot see it
- No: It cannot warn anyone
- No: Questions live elsewhere
Case tracking software
When cases, labs or people multiply
- Yes: The lab updates the status, if it works in the same system
- Yes: Dates are checked for you
- Yes: Messages stay with the case
- No: Stops working when nobody is given ownership
Why lab cases need their own list
A lot of restorative work still leaves the building. In a study of 1,777 US dentists, 88% said a commercial lab made most of their crowns.
Each of those cases is out of sight for days, with a patient booked against it.
The schedule knows about the appointment. It does not know where the crown is.
Dr. Joel Gaudet, the dentist who founded Tusko, puts the problem plainly:
“I was too busy, and I was missing too many things. Lab cases were going missing. I was missing communication.”
Dr. Joel Gaudet, Wave Dentistry
Five jobs a tracking system has to do
Any method, from a logbook to software, can be judged against the same five jobs.
- Show every open case in one place. Every lab and every type of work, on one list.
- Tie each case to its seat appointment. A due date on its own says nothing about the patient waiting for it.
- Show the current status. Where the case is now, and when that last changed.
- Hold the questions. What the lab asked, what the dentist answered, and when.
- Warn someone when a date is at risk. Early enough to move the appointment.
Score your current method against all five. Jobs two and five are the ones to look at hardest.
What to record for every case
Ten fields are enough to do those jobs.
| Field | Why it is there |
|---|---|
| Patient | Name and chart number, so anyone can find the case |
| Teeth | In FDI notation, such as tooth 36 |
| What was ordered | The restoration or appliance, and the material |
| Lab | Which lab has the case |
| Date sent | The day it left the practice |
| Date due back | The day the lab said it would return |
| Seat appointment | The date and time the patient is booked |
| Status | Sent, at the lab, on its way, received, seated |
| Open question | Anything the lab is waiting on |
| Owner | The person at the practice who is watching it |
Use the same words for status every time. Five fixed stages are quicker to scan than a sentence in every row.
Resist adding more. Every extra field is one more that goes stale.
How practices track cases today
Five methods are in common use, and each suits a different practice.
| Method | Works when | Stops working when |
|---|---|---|
| Memory and sticky notes | One dentist sends very few cases | Anyone is away |
| A paper logbook | One lab, one front desk | Two people need it at once |
| A shared spreadsheet | The flow is steady and one person owns it | Several labs each report differently |
| Notes in the practice management system | The team already lives there | You need one list of every open case |
| Case tracking software | Cases, labs or staff multiply | Nobody is given ownership |
No method on that list is wrong. A method fails when the practice grows past it and nobody notices.
Where a spreadsheet works, and where it stops
A spreadsheet is free, flexible and familiar. With one owner and a morning check, it covers jobs one to three well.
Our free dental lab case tracking sheet has the ten fields set up and a routine to go with it.
It stops in predictable places.
- The lab cannot see it. Every status change reaches the sheet by phone or email, typed in by your team.
- It cannot warn anyone. A late case looks like every other row until somebody reads the dates.
- Questions live elsewhere. The answer to the lab’s question is in an inbox, away from the row.
- Two editors collide. One person sorts the sheet while another is typing in it.
- History is thin. Once a row is cleared, the record of what was asked goes with it.
The spreadsheet is doing what it was built for. A lab case is a conversation with a deadline, and a grid of cells holds only the deadline.
What software adds
Case tracking software covers the same ten fields. What it adds is who fills them in, and what happens next.
- The lab updates the status. If the lab works in the same system, nobody at the practice retypes anything.
- The Rx and files sit on the case. The scan, the photos and the prescription are one click from the row.
- Dates are checked for you. A case that will miss its seat appointment is flagged while it can still be moved.
- Messages stay with the case. A question and its answer are read beside the Rx.
- The record stays. Every past case for a patient can be found again.
Products differ on each point. Ask every vendor which of the five jobs it does, and who enters the status.
How to choose for your practice
Start from how you work today.
- One lab, a few cases a week, one person in charge. A spreadsheet is enough. Put your effort into the morning check.
- Two or more labs. Ask how each lab’s updates will reach your list. If the answer is “someone phones”, expect gaps.
- A seat appointment missed in recent months. You need job five, whatever the tool. The practice calculator puts a cost on those visits.
- Several people updating the list. Move off a shared file before it loses a case.
Whichever you pick, name the owner first. A tool with no owner is a list nobody reads.
Test it for two weeks
Before you commit to any method, run it for two weeks and count three things.
- Cases that were on the list the day they left the practice
- Status changes that reached the list the same day
- Seat appointments where the case was in the building the day before
If all three are close to every case, the method fits. If one lags, you know which of the five jobs to fix.
When the lab shares the list
The largest gap in any practice-side list is that the lab cannot see it. Closing that gap is what a shared case does.
Tusko is built that way. The practice sends the Rx, the lab works the case, and Chair Time flags a late case before the patient sits down.
See how it looks for practices.
More on tracking lab cases
Each of these guides takes one part of case tracking further.
- How to protect chair time when lab cases run late
- The front desk guide to lab cases
- How many dental labs should a practice use
- How to choose a dental lab: 12 questions to ask
- The patient is in the chair and the case isn’t back
- Night guards and splints: keeping appliance cases on track
- How to see what your practice really spends with each dental lab
- How to roll out a new lab workflow without slowing the schedule
For the handoffs where cases slip, see why dental lab cases go missing.
What is the simplest way to track dental lab cases?
One shared list with a row for every case, checked by one named person every morning. A spreadsheet does this well for a practice that sends a steady, modest flow to one or two labs.
Can our practice management system track lab cases?
Many have a lab case field or a notes area, and some teams make that work. Check that it can show every open case in one list, and that it ties each case to its seat appointment.
How many lab cases before a spreadsheet stops working?
There is no fixed number. The signs are missed updates, two people editing at once, and labs that each report in a different way. The number of labs and people matters more than the number of cases.
Who should own lab case tracking in a practice?
One person, by name, with a backup for days off. In many practices that is a dental assistant or the office manager. A list that belongs to everyone tends to be checked by no one.
Sources
Related guides
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.
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.