Own lab... am I crazy? (please tell me I am)

[Xydorf]

Hello! I own a dental office with about 10 employees total here in Sweden. We have a lot to do, did about 200 units last month (including implants, not including the around 30 dentures).

We currently use a German lab, one of Europes biggest, that sends to China, but has German quality control. They do most things right, but many times I feel mistakes are done, many times on simple issues. Also it takes about two weeks minimum in delivery time. The price is great/fantastic.

I have a sirona omnicam scanner that I love (and many other sirona things that are absolutely great).

I am thinking of renting a small office space about 1km from the clinic and setting up my own lab, with all sirona lab stuff to handle the digital impressions. I was thinking two employees. The main reason is that I want faster turnaround for my cases, someone to assist me in treatment planning with the prosthodontist that I plan cases with, and quality control.

Am I being totally nuts even considering this?

Thank you very much in advance.

//John, Lidingö, Sweden

 

[JMN]

If the primary reason is price, you're going the wrong direction. If the primary reason is to give the patient the best restoration you can give them in their price range, then maybe. If you are looking for great work, you'll need to be both places at once, or hire a great tech, and the biggest part is you will have to trust that tech. Completely.

Why are you not working with labs in your area, what is it that having your own lab will provide that they do not or cannot?
Something from the computing industry applies to lab work. Faster, better, cheaper, pick TWO.

If it is faster and cheaper you want, then this may be the wrong direction for you. Chinese labs can provide lower prices because of lower costs, some of that is from low wages, some of it is from not quite proper materials and forged origins/inspection/certifications. Not all of them, and not all of those with these issues know this their issue. But push down on prices hard enough and profit has to come from somewhere. And it will be coming from the patients long term health.

I do not intend to insinuate this is what you are wanting to do, making profit from inferior work, your initiating question regarding quality issues speaks well of you. However, having a lab you control will require you to learn very much more than you could likely want to unless you find a highly trained and highly trustable partner to run it. Ensure that in finding such a person you apply positive delegation and not responsibility abdication or this may well be one of the most unpleasant decisions you could make, empower your staff and they will make you proud and look great to your patient, abdication will create the same problem you have now, but it will be squarely in your lap.

 

[Xydorf]

If the primary reason is price, you're going the wrong direction. If the primary reason is to give the patient the best restoration you can give them in their price range, then maybe. If you are looking for great work, you'll need to be both places at once, or hire a great tech, and the biggest part is you will have to trust that tech. Completely.

Why are you not working with labs in your area, what is it that having your own lab will provide that they do not or cannot?
Something from the computing industry applies to lab work. Faster, better, cheaper, pick TWO.

If it is faster and cheaper you want, then this may be the wrong direction for you. Chinese labs can provide lower prices because of lower costs, some of that is from low wages, some of it is from not quite proper materials and forged origins/inspection/certifications. Not all of them, and not all of those with these issues know this their issue. But push down on prices hard enough and profit has to come from somewhere. And it will be coming from the patients long term health.

I do not intend to insinuate this is what you are wanting to do, making profit from inferior work, your initiating question regarding quality issues speaks well of you. However, having a lab you control will require you to learn very much more than you could likely want to unless you find a highly trained and highly trustable partner to run it. Ensure that in finding such a person you apply positive delegation and not responsibility abdication or this may well be one of the most unpleasant decisions you could make, empower your staff and they will make you proud and look great to your patient, abdication will create the same problem you have now, but it will be squarely in your lap.

Thank you for your well articulated answer. I wish I could express myself with the same precision in English.

I think you nailed it, by saying that it depends on If I find the right lab tech. This is the key question, If I can find him or her it will be viable, otherwise not.

I will have this in mind when considering the options. //John

 

[JMN]

Thank you for your well articulated answer. I wish I could express myself with the same precision in English.

I think you nailed it, by saying that it depends on If I find the right lab tech. This is the key question, If I can find him or her it will be viable, otherwise not.

I will have this in mind when considering the options. //John

In Sweedish it would have been a disaster You need not just the right tech, but to have the right mindset. This is a complete buisness in itself that will need to be treated as such. It really does come right down to you get what you pay for. Payment in time, effort or money. I'll sometimes sell Lincolns at Mercury prices. But you will not find BMWs or even Fords at Trabant prices.
Viseis(if I spelled it right it'll be a miracle)

 

[rkm rdt]

Some on here would say that using cerec would be the first sign of instability.

 

[CoolHandLuke]

its a very different world on that side of the globe rkm. maybe sirona is a paragon of quality over there.

 

[rkm rdt]

its a very different world on that side of the globe rkm. maybe sirona is a paragon of quality over there.

It's all part of Agenda 21

 

[JMN]

It's all part of Agenda 21

You may be righter than you know

 

[Xydorf]

In Sweedish it would have been a disaster You need not just the right tech, but to have the right mindset. This is a complete buisness in itself that will need to be treated as such. It really does come right down to you get what you pay for. Payment in time, effort or money. I'll sometimes sell Lincolns at Mercury prices. But you will not find BMWs or even Fords at Trabant prices.
Viseis(if I spelled it right it'll be a miracle)

You mean "see you" / "we will meet again"? Then it is "vi ses", so not that bad

Trabant- the car of the millennium

I am thinking that to incentivize (sp? Is that a word even?) the tech, I will eventually give him/her/it/the raindeer up to 5 percent of the stocks in the clinic, so that the raindeer will get parts of dividends, etc. Of course also a nice salary.

Some on here would say that using cerec would be the first sign of instability.

We dont use the mill we only scan with omnicam.

Life is good

//John

 

[zero_zero]

........
Trabant- the car of the millennium
.........

I could be the cool guy LOL ...

 

[JMN]

You mean "see you" / "we will meet again"? Then it is "vi ses", so not that bad

Trabant- the car of the millennium

I am thinking that to incentize....

//John

Yep, that where I was headed. Worked with a "Sweed-who-was-born-a-Sweed" and picked up some verbal Sweedish. And terrible jokes. Incentivize is a word, and a good idea, having ownership or personal investment in something makes people become more cognizant of the results of their decisions. They are 'stakeholders' in the enterprise.

 

[JMN]

I could be the cool guy LOL ...

So you were the one that pirated that TV station! Max Headroom rules.

 

[zero_zero]

So you were the one that pirated that TV station! Max Headroom rules.

Guilty as charged... Not....I was in elementary back then...Regardless still fan of Max H....

 

[JMN]

Guilty as charged... Not....I was in elementary back then...Regardless still fan of Max H....

Did you know the background in the show was generated by a Commodore 64, but the actor was wearing a mask.

 

[zero_zero]

Did you know the background in the show was generated by a Commodore 64, but the actor was wearing a mask.

...used to code the C64 back in the days ...but, how do you know it was a C64 ? If is the case, the actor was filmed against a green screen then mixed with the background...would've suspect an Amiga tho (given the C64 limitations) ...

 

[Affinity]

Wish you were in Switzerland, Id do it for you!

 

[JMN]

...used to code the C64 back in the days ...but, how do you know it was a C64 ? If is the case, the actor was filmed against a green screen then mixed with the background...would've suspect an Amiga tho (given the C64 limitations) ...

I read too much, And Amiga would have been better, oh how many hrs I spent on apples and trash80s

 

[Xydorf]

Wish you were in Switzerland, Id do it for you!

Thank you for this wonderful reply for many reasons:

1. To teach the americans/canadians/Etc that Sweden and Switzerland are two different countries (No offense, but Americans in general suck att international geography)

2. To see that someone actually would be interested

Its a shame Switzerland is not in the Eu, then you could testwork for a short while and see.

Life is good

 

[Xydorf]

Yep, that where I was headed. Worked with a "Sweed-who-was-born-a-Sweed" and picked up some verbal Sweedish. And terrible jokes. Incentivize is a word, and a good idea, having ownership or personal investment in something makes people become more cognizant of the results of their decisions. They are 'stakeholders' in the enterprise.

This is what I think as well. We did exactly this with the main dental hygienist, and now she is really involved. My brother had to give up 5 per cent of his stocks, but that's life (for him at least

 

[JMN]

...
No offense, but Americans in general suck at international geography....

Don't worry about offending americans on that point, most of us suck at internal geography too, and grammar, and math, and science, but our school sports teams always have new jerseys and well manicured fields. Priorities man!