FAQ
What is a dental lab remake rate?
A straight answer first, then the context behind it, from the technicians who do the work.
THE SHORT ANSWER
A dental lab remake rate is the percentage of completed cases that must be fabricated again due to fit, esthetics, or occlusion failures before the restoration can be seated. Industry averages run between 5% and 8%. A rate below 3% signals tight quality control across the lab's CAD design, milling, and finishing workflow.
THE CONTEXT
What sits behind it
For a general dentist or prosthodontist, a high remake rate is a direct chair-time tax. Every remake means rescheduling the patient, holding the prep under a temporary, and absorbing the coordination delay. A lab running at 7% remakes on a practice doing 40 cases per month generates roughly 3 remakes every 30 days. That is 3 appointment slots lost, 3 patient conversations about delay, and 3 opportunities for the patient to question the experience.
Remake triggers sort into three buckets: fit failures (marginal gaps, contact issues, occlusal interference), esthetics failures (shade mismatch, surface texture, contour), and breakage in transit or during try-in. Fit failures are the most common and are typically traceable to impression or scan quality, CAD margin interpretation, or milling tolerances. Esthetics failures peak on anterior cases where shade is matched against a chairside photo rather than a live consultation with the technician.
When evaluating a lab partner, ask for the remake rate by case type, not just an aggregate number. A lab's overall rate may look acceptable while crowns on implant abutments or full-arch provisionals run significantly higher. Dani Dental tracks case-level remake data and keeps the fabricating technician on the case through any redo, so the root cause is identified and corrected rather than reassigned.
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This question 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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