In-house dental lab
Also called: in-office lab, in-house lab, chairside lab
An in-house dental lab is a lab inside a dental practice. It can be one milling unit and a 3D printer run by an assistant, or a room with a full-time dental technician. The practice makes some restorations and appliances itself, and sends the rest of its cases to outside labs.
How it shows up between practice and lab
An in-house lab changes which cases a practice sends out. Same-day crowns and printed night guards may stay in the building, while other work still goes to a lab.
In-house cases need the same tracking as lab cases. Nobody outside is expecting them, so a scan with no Rx can sit until the patient returns.
It is worth telling outside labs what the practice now makes itself. They can plan for the change in the work they receive.
Read more in how to track dental lab cases in your practice and in-house dental lab vs outsourcing.
Related terms
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