ANSWERS

How do dental labs work with multi-location practices?

Dental labs serve multi-location practices through a single account structure: one master agreement, consolidated billing, standardized case submission across offices, and a documented turnaround SLA. The lab assigns named technicians per case and routes cases through one digital workflow so a crown from office 3 ma...

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Why it works this way

One account, many offices

A multi-location practice works with a lab through a single master account that rolls up every office underneath it. That means one credit application, one pricing schedule, one Rx template, and one billing statement at month-end instead of 10 or 30 separate invoices to reconcile. For a DSO running 10-30 offices (the operational sweet spot before corporate procurement cycles slow everything down), this is the difference between a lab partnership that scales and a vendor mess that doesn't.

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Can a dental lab handle billing for 15 offices under one account?

Yes. The standard structure for a 10-30 office group is one master account with offices as sub-locations underneath. Cases are tagged per office and per provider at submission, then consolidated into one monthly statement with a per-office breakdown for internal cost allocation. Most labs, Dani Dental included, can also split billing by region or pod if the group operates that way. One credit application, one Net-30 relationship, one phone call when there's a billing question.

How do dental labs keep quality consistent across multiple practice locations?

Quality stays consistent when every case routes through one production floor instead of regional sub-labs. Dani Dental mills, finishes, and QCs every case in Phoenix. The same ceramists handle anterior shade matching whether the case came from office 1 or office 14. Standardized digital intake (intraoral scan, Rx template, photography protocol) removes variability at the front end. Named-technician accountability per case removes variability at the bench. The result: a crown delivered to office 7 matches a crown delivered to office 12.

What turnaround time should a multi-location practice expect from a lab?

Turnaround should be documented per case type, not quoted generically. Single-unit zirconia crowns run 5-7 business days in-lab. Implant crowns and custom abutments run 7-10 business days. Full-arch hybrids and All-on-X cases run 3-6 weeks depending on complexity and try-in stages. Night guards and bleaching trays run 5-7 days. A multi-location group should get these windows in writing as part of the master agreement, with the escalation path documented when a case needs rush handling for a scheduled chair appointment.

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This answer is one piece of a larger workflow. The pillar page covers materials, turnaround, and how we build the case to your specification.

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