Kingsport, TN
Every healthy relationship is based on communication. Where there is a communication breakdown, there are mistakes, failures, and incorrect assumptions. This is even true when communicating between dental practices and dental labs. At Premier Dental Arts, we understand that you want to provide the best results to your patients, which is why we want to share tips on improving communication with your dental lab so that we can be on the same page.
Doctors should remain engaged
Oftentimes, dentists leave communicating with the lab to the front desk or assistants. While we understand that dentists are busy, it is well worth your time to ensure necessary details about the case are documented and sent to the lab. Otherwise, back and forth phone calls or emails could delay your patient’s case, which wouldn’t make them too happy! Therefore, we encourage dentists to remain engaged with their patient’s lab cases.
Get everyone in the office on the same page
Sometimes, dental lab technicians have questions and make phone calls to the dentist’s office. Ensure that team member answering the phone understand how to read patient charts so that they can answer questions about the case. Doing so will keep the case on track to be complete on time. While the person answering the phone may not have an in-depth knowledge of the case, they should be able to read the chart notes and relay that information to the dental lab. Therefore, ensure that you thoroughly document each patient’s case in their chart. Additionally, use good grammar and avoid abbreviations or text-like notes as those may be difficult to ready by some individuals.
Include these components every time
There is never such as thing as too much information! We recommend providing these five components with every lab case. Declare which type of material should be used, both the shade and stump shade that you prefer and any high-resolution photographs that you took before and after your prep. Another tidbit of information to share with the lab is to notate specifics regarding your patient’s unique smile needs and what they may like about their smile. We can use this information to better fabricate a beautiful custom restoration for your patient.
Go digital
Taking digital impressions is by far the easiest and best way to send this information to your dental lab. While we still construct models from actual impressions, there is a risk of the impression breaking or missing important information from the case. Digital impressions can capture different angles and images not apparent with traditional impressions. Plus, you can send the digital impressions to us in an instant, instead of waiting on pick up by one of our representatives or having to mail your case to our dental lab. If, however, you need to send a physical case to us, please ensure everything is labeled properly to minimize back and forth phone calls to finalize details.
Communicating with your dental lab is essential if you want the best results for your patients. At Premier Dental Arts, we strive to provide the best restorations to our clients, and we work hard to foster healthy relationships with each of the dental offices that we serve. After all, we are people helping people, which is why communication is of the utmost importance to us.