In house lab work?

[Kniles5]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Do you think it would be feasible to have an in house lab? Lab guys are comparable in pay to hygienists, if not less. Instead of sending crowns, partials and dentures to dental lab businesses, why not have your own lab man that does all of your work, while you provide the equipment?
All of the equipment can be pricey, but over the long run, do you think that it would pay off? I mean, lab fees can take up a good 20-30% of the production. Does this work? I don't really know.

 

[1FutureDDS]

If you can find someone who can do crowns/bridges/maybe procera/ AND dentures(everything in that area) then it MAY be worth it depending on how busy you are compared to the hours they will be working. Are you willing to give up space in your office, PLUS buy all lab equipment, PLUS pay someone to work full time? If they are able to handle ALL of the above, you will be paying them a large paycheck.

I think it is much more reasonable to send your lab work out to local or even distant labs. I believe the price will be much less costly if you do it this way.

 

[Kniles5]

Lab work can be thousands a week. I shadowed in a lab this last week and it seemed like there was some pricey, yet very cool equipment. But, mostly wax, porcelain, metal, air, fire and water were the tools. I can provide this!! There are skilled lab people who work for $50-60k a year. Do we learn the lab work type stuff in dental school? I have heard that we have to do a lot of our own stuff, but to what extent?

 

[aphistis]

One of the guys I shadowed as a pre-dent runs a practice that's almost exclusively extractions & immediate dentures. He kept an in-house lab with two full-time denture techs. Seemed to work out pretty well for him.

 

[1FutureDDS]

One of the guys I shadowed as a pre-dent runs a practice that's almost exclusively extractions & immediate dentures. He kept an in-house lab with two full-time denture techs. Seemed to work out pretty well for him.

If you're doing immediate dentures, and find yourself in a situation where people are willing to actually pay for the quick fees, then it could work! 🙂
You tell people there will be a minimum 7 day wait period without their teeth, and they are always willing to shell out the cash to keep you in business 🙂

I would assume that out of the two (crown & bridge lab) VS (denture lab), I would definitely chose denture lab for productivity and only for the main purpose of immediate dentures. When you make a denture patient, you basically marry them for the rest of their life. You should have them coming in atleast once a year to check the wear and tear, so you're making a fee off of that visit, plus any added work.

Two lab techs full time, shesh.....I don't know of any dentists in my current location that have their own in-house lab. This dentist must be really cranking them out, congrats to him hehe

 

[L8DYV]

Do you think it would be feasible to have an in house lab? Lab guys are comperable in pay to hygienists, if not less. Instead of sending crowns, partials and dentures to dental lab businesses, why not have your own lab man that does all of your work, while you provide the equipment?
All of the equipment can be pricey, but over the long run, do you think that it would pay off? I mean, lab fees can take up a good 20-30% of the production. Does this work? I don't really know.

!