How to Track Dental Lab Cases So None Get Lost
Every dental clinic knows this moment: the patient is in for their crown, and the crown is still at the lab. Or the lab sent the case back a week ago and nobody noticed. Or the lab’s bill at the end of the month includes a case nobody remembers sending. The cause is rarely the lab or the dentist — it is that the case has no single place where it lives.
1. Start with a clear spec
Half of all lab problems start with an incomplete request. Every case needs:
- the restoration type (crown, bridge, …) and material
- the shade
- the teeth, in a clear numbering
- any special instructions
- the date you need it back
When the spec is written in one place instead of a voice note or a scrap of paper, the questions coming back from the lab drop.
2. Record every stage with its date
A case moves through known stages: sent → in fabrication → try-in → received → delivered to the patient. When each stage is recorded with its date:
- you know where a case is without calling anyone;
- you see which cases are late;
- you learn how long each lab really takes.
3. Keep the files with the case
Scans, photos and notes belong with the case itself, not scattered across staff phones. It matters most when a case has to be redone.
4. Record the actual cost when the case comes back
The lab’s price list gives you an expected cost, but what is actually charged can differ — additions, adjustments. Record the actual cost and the lab’s invoice number the moment you receive the case, while the information is in front of you.
5. Link remakes to the original case
When a case goes back to the lab, record it as a remake linked to the original rather than a new case from scratch. You see how often each lab needs remakes, and whether a remake should be charged.
6. Check the lab’s monthly statement case by case
At the end of the month, match the lab’s statement against the cases you actually received, with their recorded costs. A case on the statement you don’t have — or at a different price — stands out immediately.
The short version
Tracking lab cases doesn’t take more effort; it takes one place. A clear spec, dated stages, the actual cost and a monthly check. In Synora all of that lives inside the lab case itself: your labs and their prices, the case’s stages, its cost, and the monthly statement.
