As a dentist, I would NEVER put something like this in the mouth of one of my patients. In all fairness, I do not know the quality of the restoration, but that doesn't change my mind.
As an American, I am sick and tired of seeing "Made in China". Same goes for Mexico, Taiwan, Hong Kong.......anywhere but USA !
I don't know if it would be a good idea for patients to know what our costs are if it were for only one thing. For example, if I pay $150 for a crown, but my fee is $500 or higher, the patient will want to know why the "mark up" is $350. What the patient does not see is the staff fees, insurance, equipment, utilities, school debt, etc., that all go into overhead.
Now, if the patient were able to see all of that, sure, I'd be all for letting them know what our costs are.
In reality, though, do any of us really know how much it costs GM to make a car ? How much it costs the dealer to buy it ? Also, if labor is so much cheaper in other countries, why do imported cars not cost much less than American cars ?
Just like Travis said, I'm all for keeping jobs in the good ole' USA. I really don't care that much about how much money I could cut from my cost for a crown. I pride myself on doing the absolute best job that I possibly can every single time I treat a patient. Am I the best dentist ever ? Certainly not. Am I the best dentist that I can personally be ? I think I'm pretty close. Of course, there is always room for improvement, though.
Getting back on topic, the dentists that use this lab in China may not even know that they are using it. As another example, say I send my work to Lab A. They, in turn, send it to China. They pay the Chinese lab $29, charge me $150, and as long as it is consistent with the quality to which I am accustomed, I would probably never know the difference.
I would post a link, but I can't connect to dentaltown.com right now, but there was a thread called "off-shore labs" that was being kicked around a while back. Check it out.
Thanks for letting me vent,
Mike
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