About Dental Laboratory Outsourcing

Dental Laboratory Outsourcing

An Elite-Level Dental Lab in South Korea

Why Dental Laboratory Outsourcing?

Here are reasons to consider Dental Laboratory Outsourcing

There are many reasons why a lab should consider outsourcing. Regardless of your reasons, finding a good outsourcing partner is the most critical. If your lab reputation is what it aims for, that’s us. Here are some of the reasons.

Some think South Korean labor is cheap, comparing us to Vietnam, Indonesia, The Philippines, or China. Far from it! In fact, it’s one of the highest labor costs in the world for college graduates.

There is cheap manual labor in South Korea. For example, those companies or manufacturers employing workers from China, Thailand, The Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc. However, dental labs are strictly forbidden by law from employing unlicensed technicians. Therefore, cheap labor markets in South Korea do not apply dental laboratory outsourcing.

Why is our Dental Laboratory Outsourcing any different?

Only original genuine parts.
We don’t cut corners to save time or costs.
With us, there are no hidden costs.
All our technicians received a college degree in dental technology.
The South Korean government licenses all our technicians to practice in a dental laboratory.
Fast turnaround time from your digitally scanned files. It’s not a problem if you don’t have a digital scanner. We welcome PVS impressions.
We are available to support your staff or if you need to discuss this with our technicians.
Anything else you need to give you peace of mind? Please tell us what you need.

Why not connect to us and see what you have been missing all these times? See why our clients come to us as a last resort for outsourcing to other labs.

A Bachelor’s Degree and Licensed Dental Technician

For instance, in the United States, new hires’ training consists mainly of on-the-job training or learning over the shoulder. Depending on who they are learning from, it varies widely. Mostly, they don’t study using textbooks, and there is no standard to comply, formal classroom training, or bachelor’s degree. Therefore, style, contouring, technique, anatomy, and bite are inconsistent or even inaccurate. The technicians didn’t have the opportunity to learn properly. Actually, the U.S. has a dental certification process, but it is not required. It may be possible that there is one certified technician in the lab, but non-certified technicians could do most of the work. Also, the basic understanding of functional and clinical are lacking. Not so in South Korea and our dental laboratory outsourcing.

University Bachelor 4-Year Curriculum for Dental Technology in South Korea

There are similarities in efforts between licensed dental technicians (LDT) and registered nurses (RN).

We both graduate from a 4-year college and must pass board exams.

Again, it’s not a junior college, technical, or vocational school but a 4-year college degree. If you are not licensed, you cannot work in the dental lab, or it violates the law. Only a licensed technician must perform all dental lab tasks, even work in the model department, trimming margin, or CAD-CAM.

During the four years in college, we learn a similar curriculum as a pre-dentistry program.

Therefore, we can communicate at some levels as dentists regarding basic dental languages and terminologies. As a result, our technicians at dental lab outsourcing are academically intelligent and educated, have excellent hand-eye coordination and hand craftsmanship, and are energetic.

World Standards and Registrations of Dental Laboratory Outsourcing

If your country requires any registration or license, we can accommodate them. Again, we meet all U.S. FDA requirements and standards. Also, we meet all requirements from the South Korean government. Not many countries in the world do that. For instance, not many countries where their government inspects dental laboratories. As such, our laboratory is regularly inspected in Korea to meet dental health standards and regulations. In other words, we meet the strictest requirements for dental laboratories.

Reasons to Consider Dental Laboratory Outsourcing

Lack of Technicians

Every dental lab owner’s challenge is searching for an acceptable technician. Until CAD-CAM popularized the industry, everything we did was handmade. At the same time, training or “passing on” your skills to someone is not a good idea. They can always end up at your competitor’s lab if they do not start their own lab to compete with you, a classic mistake in the dental lab industry. Therefore, reserving or holding off the final touch of the training step is common. After all, they will always be “looking” for a better opportunity.

Digital Capability & Affordability

Back in the old days, when starting a dental lab, the capital expenditure was around $20K. Today, CAD-CAM alone costs around $200,000 and may or may not include 3D printing capability. Another issue: you are not familiar with how it works since you have never used it before, not to mention computer skills. As a result, you can hire a “computer guy” who has no clue what the margin looks like. Further, it doesn’t help the cost related to maintaining the overpriced equipment.

Moreover, you need to consider the software licenses to accept certain 3D intraoral scan files, such as iTero, Trios, or CEREC. Also, most of us are too old for this “stuff” and don’t want to mess with them. As a result, the only viable option seems to be selling and retiring.

Selling Your Lab Option

Why consider selling your hard-earned business at underprice? I have been there, and it’s not worth it. Most buyers will not appreciate the value of your hard-built business or pay the right price. Suppose you have a buyer for good pricing; after you pay multiple taxes, where does it leave you? Also, with outsourcing, you have an opportunity to pass along your business to your family members, even if they don’t have the training or experience in the dental laboratory. For that, they will need minimum training and a basic understanding of the dental lab business. Again, with dental laboratory outsourcing, you have the flexibility to do anything you want.

Selling my lab 15 years ago was a mistake.

I sold my first lab 15 years ago, and I regret it to this day. At that time, the annual revenue was around $1.5M, but I could not find a buyer willing to pay more than $650,000. After-tax, it was only four months worth. I am sure you can sell it better, but not to significantly satisfy your retired life. Please don’t make the same mistake. If I had this opportunity of dental lab outsourcing, I would have never sold it. Consequently, after learning the hard way, I have decided to open a lab in Seoul.

Why did I sell it?

In fact, 20 years ago, outsourcing to more budget-friendly, cheaper labor in third-world countries was popular. In fact, everyone seems to be doing it. It was unbelievably so cheap I could not compete with them. Instead, I decided to sell it and do something else. To me, it seems like a mistake in outsourcing at that time. However, time has passed, and it is far more globalized. It only takes a couple of two days to ship to anywhere around the world or sometimes is faster than shipping domestically. After a few times, you will see how easy and practical shipping is for us. Our clients send to us using FedEx, UPS, DHL, or other global shipping companies.

Retiring or Dental Laboratory Outsourcing?

Retiring without any income or minimum income is no fun! Not to mention what you plan to do with your time without much funds. Traveling, health insurance, dining, and spoiling your grandchildren need means. It’s not feasible when you retire unless you are one of the few fortunate dental lab owners who saved a fortune! But, not many small to medium-sized dental lab owners have had the luxury of saving. In fact, we are and have always been hard-working, tax-paying business owners.

Semi-Retirement & Quality Life

Also, what will you do with all your time when you retire? Having your own business, at least you will have something to do for the rest of your life. Going to work and having your own place or a “cave” is a blessing! Therefore, dental lab outsourcing gives you more quality time with your family. Let’s do the hard work while you spend more quality time with your grandchildren and families. It allows you to semi-retire and travel to places you never had time. Also, you can still work remotely while traveling or spend a few weeks in France, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, or Spain. How about taking your family to Prague or visiting beautiful places like Plitvice Lakes National Park? You are free to do the rest of your life while we work for you.

Not many business owners will have such luxury as you do! Thus, with dental laboratory outsourcing, you can live the quality life you have ever dreamed of.

Can’t find a good enough lab tech?

The primary reason why most small dental lab owners consider selling is because you can no longer continue to work. Or you don’t have the energy, skill, funds, or experience to keep up with ever-evolving technology. Eventually, you will lose your clients to your competitors.

You don’t have to worry about that anymore. We can hire as many technicians as you need, and they are at your disposal. Again, our technicians are educated, experienced, talented, and skilled and are at the prime age of hard-working and ambitious. At dental laboratory outsourcing, we have the capability to handle most technology. Also, we continue to upgrade and update dental technologies.

For example,

Accept most 3D digital files from most intraoral scanners.
In-house print 3D models from digital files.
Scan, design, and submit digitally to Atlantis or ZimVie for Encode Healing Abutments.
In-house milling for most customized abutments – titanium, titanium gold anodized, zirconia, or hybrid titanium-zirconia abutments.
The latest CAD-CAM systems and technologies, and much more.

The reputation of Offshore Dental Laboratory Outsourcing

The image of offshore dental lab outsourcing is never popular. Yet, it’s inevitable, and many are doing it, albeit discreetly. However, they mostly do it for cheaper labor reasons. Not to us! You seldom find a product printed “made in Korea” unless it’s high-end electronics, A.I., drones, semiconductors, and other high-technology products.

You get what you pay for

Seoul is one of the most expensive places to live and work. At the same time, it’s home to thousands of the best dental technicians in the world. As such, our quality and detailed anatomy are textbook or magazine models. Therefore, our clients come to us when they need the highest quality work. We guarantee your money will be worth every penny!

What can you outsource?

Our technicians have the training and experience to fabricate from crowns & bridges to complete dentures & partials. For example:

CAD-CAM monolithic zirconia crowns and bridges
Zirconia layered/stacked crowns and bridges
IPS e.max pressable, ZirCAD, and layered crowns, bridges, and veneers
Full-mouth rehabilitation
Cosmetic porcelain veneers & diagnostic wax-ups
Valplast & cast partials & dentures
Customized implant abutments and attachments
Porcelain fused to metal and full gold crowns

If you need anything else? Contact us, and we may be able to accommodate them as long as they are approved or cleared to use in the dental industry by the United States Food and Drug Administration or your country.

What if I am not digital?

Suppose your client purchased a digital scanner, but you are not set up for digital. Fortunately, one of our clients agreed to use their accounts. Therefore, you don’t need to invest in digital technology.

Our digital partner is set up to accept most digital brands as they are:

Partner in Align Technology iTero Scanner
Certified 3Shape Trios Ready
3M or Midmark True Definition Margin Marking
CEREC DS Core inLab Connect
Medit Link
Straumann Cares
Carestream and other STL-formatted 3D digital scanners

Our Ideal Partners

The foremost importance of our partnership is a lab servicing high-end dental clinics. For instance, a dentist who appreciates the good quality of work and, more importantly, is patient-minded. In fact, when your clients want to give the best restoration for their patients, you are the ideal partner we would like to work with.

Please consider the following points if you are a candidate for the partnership:

As mentioned above, your clients are patient-minded
You have around two weeks
Can ship about ten or more cases per shipment
Your payment history is outstanding
Ability custom pick shade match
Ability to provide overnight or the same services, such as adding contacts or shade adjustment.

As dental laboratory outsourcing, we want detailed instructions from your clients so that we can do our first the first time. For example, minimizing remakes or adjustments as much as possible.

Certainly, if you have no experience with outsourcing, we will train you. We have experience in most issues related to dental lab outsourcing. Therefore, we can help you to get started. However, a few times, it will be a learning curve for you and may require some patience. As such, we will not promise everything will be smooth. Like any other business, the first time is always a learning process.

Shipping Costs

International next-day shipping is something you must consider before starting dental lab outsourcing. Unless you have significant discounts from a shipping carrier, shipping internationally is not practical. However, we have a solution for that as well. Every major shipping company offered us a discount. Therefore, you can utilize our shipper’s number. Afterward, we will add it to your account. It’s simple! You are responsible for the shipping to us, and we pay for shipping to you if you meet the minimum requirement.

Custom Shade Match

With today’s high technology, shade matching has never been easier. Of course, matching anterior centrals still poses challenges. I am sure it has always been challenging, even with you being next to the dental clinics. However, the latest material, zirconia’s opacity characteristic, made it even harder. However, we will walk you through the process of custom shading.

Remake and Adjustment

At our dental laboratory outsourcing, we follow the industry standard and policy for remakes and adjustments. For example, if a crown doesn’t fit the master die model, it’s free of charge. Also, since our business is all custom-made, there is no refund unless unused parts are refundable.

If there are any more concerns or have other questions, please get in touch with us. Simply fill out the contact form.

As a result of Dental Laboratory Outsourcing

Contact us if you are a dental lab owner who provides crowns and bridges to dentistry. Again, with decades of experience, we can deliver top-notch dental and dental prosthetics crafted properly by our detail-oriented and well-trained technicians.

Our benefits include the following:

Only three days in the lab for most single-unit full-contoured zirconia
Free shipping to high-volume dental laboratories
Unmatched high-quality restoration products
One-stop for all restoration needs
Knowledgeable technical and clinical support
Economic in-house printing of 3D models

Moreover, our goal is to provide clients with quality dental products constructed using modern and advanced dental technology. For instance, you can outsource dental laboratory for the following restorations:

Cosmetic porcelain veneers
Custom zirconia and titanium implant restorations
Full mouth reconstruction and smile makeovers
Full contoured zirconia or stacked porcelain zirconia crowns
Emax crowns and veneers
Digital porcelain fused to gold or FGC

Digital Support Lab

Dental Laboratory Outsourcing is a world-class digital lab for all your high-quality custom dental crown needs. In fact, our state-of-the-art digital facility has the most up-to-date technology to support most intraoral digital scanners.

Extensive Line of Services

Given our clinically proven practice, we restore an extensive line of restorative dental implants and cosmetic products. In fact, we have exceptional construction capability and a highly trained and skilled team of dental technicians. All our implant and cosmetic veneers are explicitly custom-designed for each patient with the utmost precision and accuracy by experienced dental technicians.