DentalAce Review: The ecosystem of a dental technician
As patients, we are all used to it by now: when there is a problem with teeth, people go to the dentist and when any follow-on treatments with dental equipment (e.g., braces) are needed, they pick those up at the dentist office too. After all, it is the dentist who takes the necessary jaw imprints with those splints with the weird pink paste or, as is done more and more nowadays, with a new intra-oral scanner machine from manufacturers like MEDIT, 3Shape, and Dentsply Sirona. What many patients do not know is that the manufacture of the actual braces and other dental equipment and dental implants, such as veneers, crowns, inlays, bridges, and so on is taken care of by a dental technician who work in so-called dental labs. This is why we will take a closer look at the profession dental technician in this following article and elaborate on the kinds of organizations that a dental technician has to work with to successfully establish and build up a new dental lab.The dental technician – The trusted partner of a dentist
As already mentioned, the dental technician is the one who is responsible for making those exactly-fitting removable braces for night-time use as well as for those permanent braces (also called brackets) that have to remain attached to the teeth for months, which can get fairly uncomfortable over time. This makes the role of a dental technician an essential part of proper dental care because it encompasses absolutely necessary tasks such as the manufacture and fitting of a broad array of dental equipment and tooth replacements. Thus, this profession requires a very high degree of precision and a steady hand in order to carefully use the latest available technologies to achieve optimal results. In recent years, an increasing number of dental technicians have started employing new technologies to increase the accuracy of their work and one of those technologies is the already mentioned CeREC (Ceramic REConstruction) approach, which replaces manual dental imprints with a computer-assisted and completely touch-less scan of one or more teeth to create a virtual imprint of a patient's jaws. Needless to say, this approach saves a lot of time and is much more exact than the manual one, which facilitates the manufacture of dental equipment and/or tooth replacements. The scope of work of a dental technician is very broad and covers braces, brackets, various forms of tooth replacements, prosthetics, and different types of splints, such as those used to treat bruxism.The dental lab – There is more than one way to goal
Dental technicians have several related career choices open after completing their studies. On the one hand, there is the option to work at an established dental lab as an employee. On the other hand, there is the path of an entrepreneur, which involves opening and building up a completely new dental lab. A very closely related decision is the one concerning the location of the dental lab, given that it can be an integrated part of a dentist practice (an "in-house" dental lab) or in a separate location. Those "in-house" dental labs offer patients the advantage to see and speak with the dental technician who will manufacture, say, their braces, so they can ask any burning questions directly. Another characteristic of an "in-house" dental lab is that it works only with the dental practice in which it is located while free-standing dental labs work with many different practices.„In-House“ dental labs are the responsibility of the practice-owning dentist who is the de-facto CEO and leader of the lab and supervises any dental technicians who work in the lab. This leadership structure is why "in-house" dental labs do not necessarily need a dental technician master. Besides the above-mentioned advantage related to personal contact with the technician, patients stand to benefit from "in-house" dental labs because their costs are generally a bit lower than those of free-standing dental labs and are also included in the dentist visit bill, which makes payment easier and more convenient.
Free-standing dental labs are, as the name suggests, separate from dental practices and are usually run and led by a dental technician master. Many of these labs specialize on narrow specialty areas (e.g., only on braces) so they can offer premium service in their respective niches. The main benefit for patients here is the relatively higher quality of work. On the flip-side, quality has its price, which is why services provided by free-standing dental labs usually cost a bit more.
Of course there is always to look for a dental technician outside of the country and in place where expert time and labor are cheaper (e.g., Asia). However, such outsourcing requires caution because with international partners it is that much more difficult to verify and ensure the use of high-quality materials and results. As a result, most local dentists still opt for Austrian labs - whether "in-house" or free-standing.
We already addressed the cost differences between the different types of labs above but we have not yet looked into what, if anything, the local health insurance companies reimburse here. Similarly to dentist services, health insurers pay for the lowest-cost options of all medically necessary dental equipment and tooth replacements, even if they are aesthetically un-appealing. Therefore, most patients should expect to pay for at least part of their dental equipment and/or tooth replacements out of their own pockets, unless the teeth that need treatment are not in the visible part of their mouths or they really do not care about their visual appearance.
The dental technician business – The right structure leads to success
Many dental technicians realize even before finishing their education that it is a fairly costly endeavor to open up a new dental lab from scratch. Also, working as an entrepreneur requires a certain level of experience and a Master's degree to lead to success. Therefore, many young dental technicians work at a more established dental lab as employees for a few years to gain sufficient experience and money before they make their ultimate choice as to whether they strike out on their own or not.For dental technicians who opt for a career as entrepreneurs, opening up a new dental lab is wrought with challenges to which this article is intended to help with finding the answer. In order to take a look at each of the key pillars underlying and supporting a successful dental lab, we first have to gain a thorough understanding of the ecosystem of a dental technician:
As the above outlined graphic shows, dental technicians have to work together with various organizations and individuals to build a successful and sustainable dental lab. For the sake of simplicity, we have grouped those entities into four categories, each of which we have examined in a little more detail below.
Human Capital & IT
Optimal dental lab operations depend, to a very large extent, on finding and recruiting a strong team. Therefore, this category is absolutely essential for both upstarting and already established dental labs. It includes activities around personnel acquisition and retention as well as the installation and maintenance of a modern IT infrastructure (IT stands for information technology). Companies that deal with recruiting in the area of dental medicine and care as well as manufacturers of specialized software for dental practices which enables the safe storage and handling of patient data are therefore must-haves in the network of every successful dental technician.
- Expert Staffing Agencies: Finding highly qualified personnel for a dental lab is a demanding task, given that not only eagerness and talent, but also attention to detail and a good education are required. Added to that is the need to be able to handle modern medical equipment and the ability to work with dentists, possibly on a day-to-day basis for those lab technicians who have work setups inside dental practices. To find such skilled workers, dental technicians can fortunately avail themselves of the services of specialized staffing agencies and job portals such as zahnumzahn or METAJOB in the area of dentistry.
- Dental Lab Manufacturers: Some of the most widely known examples that fall into this category are the companies exocad and BSD Datentechnik, all of which have developed very elaborate computer systems that effectively handle all of a dental lab's daily administrative tasks as well as the creation of detailed patient files including medical histories and 3-D images and the proper safeguarding of patient data. Thanks to the very swift advancement of technology nowadays, successful operation of a dental lab without specialized software is almost impossible. An additional advantage that these systems offer is the efficiency increases that they bring as well as the significant reduction of the daily administrative burden and complete conformity with the latest laws and regulations concerning patient data safety.
Practice Equipment
An additional prerequisite for opening up a dental lab is to equip the premises of the lab with the most up-to-date professional interior, decor, and technology. To help with this task, dental technicians luckily can rely on the help of professional interior designers who can manufacture furniture exactly to the specifications of any given dental lab operator. Also, to help with finding, purchasing, and installing all of the necessary lab equipment, dental technicians can call on experienced manufacturers of such technical tools.
- Dental Lab Interior Designers: As already mentioned, a professional interior is crucial for the successful operation of a dental lab because tables, chairs, cupboards, and so on all have to have the exactly right dimensions to properly accommodate all sorts of medical tools and utensils that a lab technician uses for his or her work. Ideal partners to consult with regarding optimal dental lab interior are the companies MANN Möbel and Freuding.
- Dental Lab Equipment Manufacturers: In addition to having the right furniture, any functioning dental lab also needs proper dental equipment in order to perform its offered range of services. Therefore, lab operators should not only establish contact with specialized companies in this space when they open up their dental lab but it is also advisable for them to stay in touch with these companies and regularly check in during conferences and other educational events in order to stay fully up to date on the latest trends and developments in the are of dental care technology. Some of the leading manufacturers of equipment for dental labs are the companies MEDIT, 3Shape, Dentsply Sirona, and ivoclar Vivadent and for some of the larger purchases for new dental labs, there are also specialized online shops with very broad offering palettes that cover virtually everything that a dental lab may want and/or need. Great examples of such comprehensive online shops are those operated by Medical EXPO and Merz Dental.
Administrative Build-Up
As with any other business during the build-up phase, dental labs also have to deal with this very same monotonous and almost annoying task: administrative work. In other words, everything related to issuing, following up on, and receiving payment for invoices as well as the handling of orders of all kinds (online and offline) ranging from necessary utensils and spare parts all the way to additional educational classes. Fortunately, there are skilled partners to help with handling these tasks as well and we will go over a few of them in the following overview:
- Ads & Offers for Everything inside the Lab: This is an area where there can not really be a perfect solution because the definition of the word "everything" can vary an can include almost anything such as decoration and kitchen equipment. In this post, however, we focused on those items and tasks that are important for successful lab operations and looked for online portals with broad service offerings that can meet almost any online search for, say, items like smaller tools and lab equipment, spare parts, hygiene and sterilization products, and educational courses. Perfect places to find useful "hits" for such searches are the online portals blaudental and dentalQLICK, which features an intuitive online shop for almost anything in- and outside a dental lab.
- Financial Matters: Tooth replacements and dental equipment can get quite expensive and this is why from time to time some patients may not be able to afford their entire dental lab service bill right away. Fortunately, there is a way for dental labs that allows them to not only keep those customers while providing optimal service but to also get full payment for their service. Enter dental treatment and service financing. Some very savvy business people have recognized this problem quite a while ago and have come up with different flexible avenues that allow patients to finance dental treatments and lab services at quite affordable rates. A great example of such a dentistry-focused financing company is DENTA.pay.
Customer Acquisition
The final and absolutely vital category that we would like to address here is focused on the acquisition and retention of new customers. For dental labs, customers are of course dentists and, to a lesser extent, individual patients. Since dental labs are, like dental practices, focused on providing medical services to patients, which is how they earn their living, they too depend on the establishment of a constant and sustainable flow of new patients. Though many kinds of different activities fall into this broad category, we have focused on the realm of marketing in this article:
- Direct-Marketing to Dentists: As any other type of business, a dental lab too has to acquire and retain customers to survive. To become known to as many people as possible, many dental labs therefore invest in search engine advertising (in short: SEA), direct mail ads, and, of course, in establishing personal business connections. What would help immensely with this task is to have a place where a dental lab's target customers can reliable be found on a consistent basis so that their investments in advertising can be optimally focused on their intended audience. This is exactly where DentalAce come is but more on that a little later.
- Direct-Marketing to Patients: Though patients are not as direct a customer group as dentists, dental labs definitely should not disregard them because brand recognition among patients is always favorable (and can is some cases result in them requesting a referral to a certain lab from their dentist). Since search engine advertising through some of the most popular online search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo) has grown considerably in the last few years, it definitely makes sense for dental labs to invest in these ad channels as well. The same goes for advertising through some of the leading social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.). The only downside associated with online ads is that they are quite costly. Good things do not come cheap, is a saying that comes to mind here, yet there are always exceptions like DentalAce.
Before we conclude this article, we would like to give you a brief outline of how DentalAce can help dental labs with very effectively (also cost-effectively) marketing themselves to exactly those customers that they intend to reach. Since you have read this far already, we will spare you the long-winded explanations at this point and, instead, direct you to this article for more information. Put succinctly: we help dental labs with customer acquisition.
So there you have it: opening up a new dental lab as a professional dental technician is not an easy task and requires hard work and know-how.
We hope that you found this article both interesting and helpful and wish you all the best for establishing your new dental practice.
Feel free to reach out with any questions at any time, as we are only a message away at dentalace@acemydental.com.
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All the Best & see you soon, Ace!
