Check our comprehensive guide to learn and adapt to the key trends shaping the dental laboratory industry in 2024, from staff turnover to digital innovations.
In the dental laboratory industry, remaining aware of emerging or thriving trends is crucial for maintaining efficiency, delivering quality fabrications, and ensuring collaborative success between dental office and lab. Today, we explore the key trends shaping the dental laboratory industry in 2024 and its ability to serve the modern dental practice.
Receiving incomplete or illegible prescriptions (Rx) from dental office customers has always been an efficiency concern in dental laboratories. When the dental laboratory receives a Rx that they lack enough information to process, the lab is forced to put the Rx on hold and attempt to contact the dental office for clarification.
Now, with most intraoral scanner platforms having their own Rx templates, more times than not, the dental lab receives a Rx that does not have all the details required to fabricate the case. When a dental lab receives an incomplete Rx from a dental office, it can lead to increased turnaround times, lower quality final fabrications, and other inefficiencies that impact the entire workflow and, ultimately, the dental patient.
When using paper Rx, the office can help the dental laboratory by using the supplied Rx template fields rather than a heavy reliance on additional hand-written notes. Most dental technicians are trained to prioritize the hand-written direction on an Rx, but this can lead to inconsistencies and, of course, issues with being able to decipher the messenger’s intent.
To combat Rx complications, dental practices must emphasize thoroughness and accuracy when sending prescriptions to labs. Detailed, legible, and complete instructions help labs produce quality dental prosthetics and appliances on time.
DDS Lab provides all customers with access to the myDDS Lab Portal. The portal allows dental offices to submit online Rx in a user-friendly format. The online Rx is designed to direct office staff to thoroughly complete all required sections.
Further, investing in training for dental staff to ensure they understand the importance of complete Rx and the meaning each question has to the outcome of the final fabrication can streamline operations. DDS Lab provides training on Rx completion to all of its dental office customers.
Keeping fabrications in production so as not to negatively impact turnaround time is one of the key trends shaping the dental lab industry in 2024. A mindful and thorough approach to the Rx helps the lab stay committed to turnaround times.
Digital dentistry has transformed how dental labs operate, leading to greater efficiency and improved patient outcomes.
Modern dental laboratories have standardized technologies such as CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing) and 3D Printing. These technologies improve the accuracy of the final restoration and can typically be delivered in a shorter time and at a lower cost than traditional analog cases can.
At the dental practice level, the adoption of intraoral scanner technology has revolutionized the restorative patient’s experience in the dental chair. Scanners allow dental staff to avoid the inconvenience of taking impressions while empowering the communication between the lab and office. The adoption of intraoral scanners began with clear aligners in the hands of orthodontists, but their value has quickly expanded to general practices for restorative work.
The main challenges with intraoral scanner adoption have been two-fold. The first is the cost barrier to acquiring the capital equipment. Over time, the market price for new scanner systems has brought the market pricing down. The other barrier is staff training and education. Even the cost of training dental assistants and doctors on successful intraoral scanning can be cumbersome to the dental practice. Due to the efficiency of digital dentistry, large-scale dental laboratories, like DDS Lab, have invested in field support teams that help dental practices navigate the adoption of intraoral scanning.
Not all trends are positive, such as the employee turnover rate. Turnover at the dental practice and in the dental laboratory both impact the efficiency of dental restorations for patients, just in different ways. In dental practices, there has been a shortage of dental assistants, dental hygienists, office staff, and doctors. This has especially been an issue since 2020.
According to the American Dental Association (ADA), staffing issues were the biggest concern among dentists in early 2022. Nationally, professional societies and dental education programs are working to mitigate the staffing shortages. When there is high turnover at the dental practice, it is difficult to keep consistency in the quality of restorative work. Successful lab fabrications start with the experience, thoroughness, and skill set of the dental office staff.
Dental practices can’t prevent staff turnover, but they can make sure that changes to staff are promptly communicated to their dental lab partner. This allows the partner to update contact information and physician preferences and ensure training is offered on accurate Rx submissions, intraoral scanning skills, and impressions.
The dental industry is facing a critical shortage of skilled dental technicians in the US. This shortage puts pressure on existing technicians and can impede dental laboratory’s ability to adopt new innovations and support customers.
Outside the United States, there are other higher education institutions that have embraced the dental technician training pathway. As such, there are very skilled technicians in countries like China, India, and Costa Rica. Many US laboratories rely on talent outside of the United States to deliver high-quality fabrications to their dental practice customers.
With this reliance on technicians outside of the United States can come concerns about control of quality and turnaround times. There is often dental office confusion about outsourced dental fabrication work versus dental laboratories that own their locations outside of the US and employ global talent as employees to deliver quality work products.
Dental Support Organizations (DSOs) now employ at least 13 percent of all US dentists. Recent macro market forces, such as the economy, an aging workforce, and changing regulatory and reimbursement challenges, have increased the growth of DSOs. DSOs provide a framework for dentists to focus on dentistry while the ownership burdens of the practice of dentistry shift to centralized resources. This is especially interesting to the latest generation of dentists who like to rely on DSOs to support their further educational advancement after graduation from dental school.
The growth of DSOs has made it harder for single physician-owned practices to remain competitive. Dental laboratories have needed to adjust to new buying models, a heavier reliance on analytics, and scaling their business to support these entities that often have a national footprint.
The dental practice and dental laboratory can work together to understand and anticipate trends that impact dental restorations. Keeping strong lines of communication open between the office and laboratory helps labs and customers work together to leverage the market trends to positively impact patient care.
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