High standards of dental care and precision with our in-house dental laboratory
At Portlethen Dental Care, one of our greatest strengths is having our own dedicated dental laboratory within the practice. This allows us to provide a level of care, precision and efficiency that is difficult to achieve when work is sent away to an external laboratory.
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Benefits for our patients
- Faster treatment times – Many cases can be fast-tracked because our technician is on-site, reducing waiting times and the number of appointments required.
- Greater quality control – Every restoration is designed, checked and refined in-house. We oversee every stage of the process to ensure it meets our exacting standards.
- Direct communication – Your dentist and technician work side by side. Complex cases can be discussed immediately, leading to better planning and more predictable results.
- Multiple prototype restorations – We can mill several temporary crowns or bridges to assess tooth shape, size, length and smile aesthetics before your final restoration is made.
- Exceptional smile design – Fine adjustments can be made until both you and your dentist are delighted with the appearance of your smile.
- Superior shade matching – Rather than relying on photographs alone, our technician can assess your teeth in person to achieve a closer colour match.
- Natural translucency and characterisation – Small details such as translucency, surface texture, staining and light reflection can be customised to blend seamlessly with your natural teeth.
- Better fitting restorations – Close collaboration between the clinical and laboratory teams helps produce restorations with excellent fit, function and comfort.
- Rapid adjustments – If minor modifications are required, they can often be carried out immediately without sending work away.
- Consistency – The same dentist and technician work together throughout your treatment, ensuring a consistent approach from start to finish.
- Improved implant restorations – Implant cases often require careful planning and precision. Having our laboratory on-site allows us to customise implant crowns and bridges to achieve optimal aesthetics and function.
- Digital workflow – Our scanners, CAD software, milling machines and 3D printers allow us to design and manufacture restorations with exceptional precision.
- Reduced risk of remakes – Continuous communication between the clinical and laboratory teams helps identify and resolve issues before the final restoration is produced.
- Personalised care – Our technician can meet you directly when required, discussing colour, shape and appearance to ensure the restoration suits your individual smile.
- Attention to detail – Because every restoration is produced under one roof, we can spend the extra time refining the smallest details that make a beautiful smile look natural rather than artificial.
The results
Having an in-house laboratory gives us greater control over every aspect of your dental treatment. It allows us to combine modern digital technology with traditional craftsmanship, producing restorations that are not only strong and functional, but beautifully natural. For our patients, this means fewer delays, more predictable outcomes, and smiles that are designed with exceptional care and attention to detail.
Book your consultation todayFrequently asked questions
An in-house dental laboratory is a dedicated, fully equipped facility located right inside a dental practice, staffed by skilled dental technicians who work side by side with the dentist. Rather than taking impressions or digital scans and sending them away to an off-site commercial lab, everything is handled directly under the same roof. This allows your dentist and the lab technicians to collaborate in real-time on custom dental work, including crowns, bridges, veneers, and dentures.
Having an on-site dental lab significantly improves your overall treatment experience by making care faster, more precise, and far more convenient. Because we can speak directly with the technician in the same practice, turnaround times drop dramatically, often reducing weeks of waiting into a single day or visit. Additionally, if a restoration needs a tiny adjustment to improve its fit or appearance, it can usually be modified immediately while you wait in the chair, eliminating the frustration of multiple appointments and temporary restorations.
Thanks to modern dental technology and in-house laboratory capabilities, you can often receive a permanent crown in just one appointment. Instead of taking messy physical impressions, wearing a temporary crown for two weeks, and returning for a second fitting, we can digitally scan your tooth, design your crown on a computer, and craft it right on-site. You can relax in the waiting room while the crown is being made and walk out the door the very same day with your permanent restoration fully bonded in place.
CEREC (which stands for Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics) is an advanced computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) system that allows us to create custom ceramic crowns in a single visit. First, we use a small handheld camera to take a 3D digital scan of your prepared tooth, with no sticky impression trays needed. A computer programme uses this scan to design a precise, custom-fit crown, which is then sent to our on-site milling unit that carves the restoration from a high-strength ceramic block in about 15 minutes, before it is polished, baked, and bonded into your mouth.
Our in-house lab provides unmatched colour accuracy because the lab technician who actually crafts your tooth can meet you in person to evaluate your smile under natural light. Rather than relying on static photos or written notes sent to a remote laboratory, the technician can personally inspect the subtle translucent edges, highlights, and unique colour variations of your surrounding natural teeth. They can even perform custom hand-staining and shading right at your chairside, fine-tuning the ceramic live until it blends seamlessly into your smile.
