By The Numbers: How Many Laboratories Dentists Use
Inside Dental Technology delivers updates on digital workflows, materials, lab techniques, and innovation in dental technology through expert articles and videos.
January 1, 2019
Volume 10, Issue 1, January 2019
Page(s): p. 14
IDT's sister publication Inside Dentistry surveyed 205 dentists and asked how many dental laboratories they work with on a regular basis. The overwhelming majority said they work with multiple laboratories, and those who work with only one were mostly dentists who have been in practice for more than 20 years.
More than two-thirds (69%) of the dentists surveyed said they use two to three laboratories, while 13% work with only one and almost 12% work with four or more (6% said they do not work with any laboratories).
Dentists who have been practicing for 20 years or more accounted for almost all of those who work with only one laboratory; only 8% of those in practice for less than 20 years work with only one, compared with 17% of those in practice for more than 20 years.
By region, the upper Midwest has the highest percentage of dentists working with only one laboratory (18%), while the Southeast has the lowest percentage using only one (8%) and the highest percentage using four or more (19%).
