How Do Dentists Choose the Dental Labs They Work With?
By Michael Armijo | Published on February 14, 2011 | 0 Comments
The dental laboratory that a dentist works with says a lot about what type of practice he or she operates, since the quality of various dental labs can run the gamut from absolutely fantastic to absolutely awful, according to Michael Armijo, D.D.S. A premier dentist in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Dr. Armijo depends on his top-rated laboratory to create the high quality veneers and crowns that his patients expect.
In fact, Dr. Armijo says that he spent a great deal of time searching for the best dental lab to work with. Because Dr. Armijo’s dental office is the most technically advanced office in the state of New Mexico, he can’t work with just any lab. Rather, he had to search far and wide for a laboratory that had the type of equipment necessary to produce the results his patients covet. Although all dentists should make an effort to find the very best dental lab, Dr. Armijo says that too few actually do this.
For patients in who want the best veneers and crowns possible, Dr. Armijo says it is imperative to find a cosmetic dentist who works with a top-of-the-line laboratory. As such, Dr. Armijo explains that the specific laboratory he works with on a daily basis is one of the best dental labs in all of New Mexico. Not only that, but it also happens to be located directly next door to his office.
How does that next-door location help patients? As Dr. Armijo explains, many patients in who are getting custom-made veneers and crowns will need to visit the dental lab at least once or twice during the appliance-creation process to ensure everything is being made to their specifications. Thus, having a dental lab located directly next door to his office makes life easier on patients who are too busy to drive all over town for separate appointments. Having a dental laboratory next door also fosters an open line of communication and ensures patients that their dentist isn’t using underpaid labor overseas to create their veneers and crowns.
Not every dentist stresses the importance of visiting a dental lab in person, but Dr. Armijo says that one-on-one communication is key for anyone looking to get a perfect set of veneers. Interestingly, he explains that it is more difficult for a lab to create a veneer for one tooth than it is to create a set of veneers for all of the top teeth. To illustrate this point, Dr. Armijo uses the example of a car that has gotten in a wreck and had its door repainted. In 99% of cases, that repainted door will be a slightly different color than the rest of the body because matching paints perfectly is such a difficult job. Matching tooth shades perfectly is difficult as well, and the only way to make it slightly easier is to get patients into the dental laboratory to have their teeth matched up against the implants they’ll soon be having placed.
This type of top-grade work does not come cheap, and as such, Dr. Armijo says that people should not look for a dentist or a dental lab based on who is offering the lowest prices. Although he recommends that patients look at the fees before sitting down in the dentist’s chair, they should know that any dentist whose fees seem very low is most likely delivering substandard work.
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