Dental Lab Turnaround Time: Start the Clock at Complete

Many late cases were never on time to begin with. The due date was set when the box arrived, but the case could not start: shade missing, scan unreadable, design waiting on the practice. The clock ran while nothing moved.

Reliable turnaround time comes from one rule: the due date is set when the case is complete, and it moves visibly when the case is blocked.

Checking what the case contains is the job of the case intake checklist. This article is about the date you promise once it passes.

Arrival is not a start date

If the date starts at arrival, every missing detail eats into production time. The lab rushes the end of the job to protect a promise it made before it had what it needed. That is where quality and margins suffer.

A due date set on an incomplete case is a guess, not a commitment.

Three rules for a date that holds

• Confirm the date only once intake is complete
• Pause it when the case waits on the practice, with the reason written on the case
• Show the new date to the practice as soon as it changes, not when they call

Make the wait visible on both sides

Practices accept a later date when they can see why. What they do not accept is finding out on delivery day. When the blocker and the owner are on the case, the practice knows the next move is theirs, and the lab is not blamed for time it never had.

Dentys keeps intake status, blockers and due dates on the same case the practice sees. It does not schedule your machines. It keeps the promise and the reality in one place.

Try it on this week's late cases

For each late case, note the day it arrived and the day it was actually complete. If the gap explains the delay, your turnaround problem starts at intake, not in production.