Corporate Profiles: Sun Dental Labs

In an environment where many labs are trying to go “niche-y” you remain dedicated to being a full-service lab. Why is that important?

We continue to be a full-service lab because our dentists need both removable and fixed dental products. Depending on the issue, a partial denture may be more suited for a patient than a fixed restoration, for example. And, as the economy continues to struggle, removable appliances are typically more affordable.

Tell us a little bit about your team and how you work with them to develop expertise.
Each of our technicians averages 15 years in the business. Many of them ran their own dental labs and most are CDTs. Some specialize in crown and bridge and some in removables. To keep them current on the latest techniques in either side of the lab, all of our technicians attend continuing education courses and lectures offered by other manufacturers.

We’ve heard a lot about Suntech, your CAD/CAM milling center. How does this set-up benefit the dentist?

With digital technology, we are able to speed up the production of our Suntech® Full and Layered Zirconia crowns and bridges by at least three days. This ensures we will meet our projected delivery dates, which makes the dentist and their patients happy!

Why should a dentist choose to work with Sun Dental versus some of the other labs serving practices nationwide?

Three things: quality, pricing and people. All full-service dental labs offer very similar products and services. What sets Sun Dental Labs apart from the competition is high-quality restorations at lower prices-made possible through higher case volumes coming in from our European labs-and the professional customer service and technical staff we have in-house. Each dentist is assigned to an Account Manager to handle cases from planning to production, so there is a single point of contact. Some of our managers have relationships with dentists that span more than a decade and they all have dental experience, so technical questions are answered right away.

You talk about prioritizing value and quality. When many dentists are looking for the lowest lab fees, how do you define “value” in light of the standards you maintain?

We define value as getting an above-average quality restoration at below-average pricing. Because of the large volume of cases we handle each year, we are able to offer excellent products at exceptional prices. Economies of scale mean better quality materials at a lower cost, which we pass along to our customers. We’ve been in business for more than a decade and we continue to grow. That in itself speaks volumes.