How to choose a dental lab for CAD/CAM restorations

Choosing a CAD/CAM laboratory is a business decision as much as a clinical one. The right lab saves chair time and remakes; the wrong one costs both. Here are the criteria that matter, in the order experienced dentists tend to weigh them.

Portfolio before promises

Ask to see actual designs: margin integrity, contact placement, emergence profiles on anterior cases. On LabMatch every laboratory maintains a portfolio with named works and indicative prices per unit or per case, so you can compare quality and cost before you ever send a scan.

Turnaround and rush handling

Published turnaround means little without consistency. Ask how the lab handles rush cases and what the surcharge is. LabMatch profiles can show a rush surcharge percentage, so expectations are clear before the case starts.

Understand the pricing model

Labs price per unit or per case. A per-unit price suits crown and bridge work; per-case pricing is common for full-arch and orthodontic setups. Compare like with like, and ask what is included — redesigns, for example, are free at some labs and charged at others.

Communication inside one channel

Scattered communication — email, WhatsApp, phone calls — is where instructions get lost. Prefer labs that keep the case conversation, files and quotes in one workspace. That is the default on LabMatch: no external contact details are exchanged, everything stays attached to the case.

Start with one low-risk case

Send a single posterior crown first. Evaluate the design quality, the turnaround and how the lab responds to feedback before committing a complex case.