New Dental Lab Law Requires Analysis of Prosthetics Ingredients
Date: 12/29/2008
GAINESVILLE, GA - A Georgia-based dental lab is celebrating over a new South Carolina law that requires it to comply with more stringent requirements.
Jeb Bates, owner of Southern Craft Dental Lab in Gainesville, GA, says, “It’s about time someone enacted laws tightening regulations on makers of dental prosthetics!”
Southern Craft does a good deal of work for dental practices in South Carolina, so why should Bates be excited when laws are enacted calling for stricter requirements?
Bates has long been an advocate for quality control regulations that prevent dental labs from substituting low-quality materials in manufacturing dental devices that specify high-quality ingredients.
“Dentists trust us (labs) to deliver the FDA-approved materials specified,” says Bates, “and to provide the technological precision and craftsmanship that make the end products aesthetically pleasing, comfortable and safe. We have a responsibility to do that.”
However, Bates says, there are labs out there substituting low-grade and low-cost metals when, for example, gold is prescribed, and producing poorly engineered crowns and bridges. They try to undercut the prices of labs that play by the rules, yet there have been few opportunities to uncover their unethical practices and stop them from producing sub-quality work.
He cites an incident in Ohio early in 2008 that set events in motion and eventually precipitated the South Carolina law. A patient filed suit against a dental practice for installing an ill-fitting bridge that she claimed caused damage to her mouth and contained dangerous levels of lead. The patient says she was told the device was manufactured in China. The story created a firestorm of public concern that offshore dental labs – and especially labs in China, because of highly publicized quality-control issues with Chinese-manufactured toys and pet foods – were unleashing a flood of dangerous dental devices on unsuspecting patients.
“Quality and safety should always take precedence over profit,” Bates says. “That is the foundation of the relationship our lab has with its dental clients. No lab should ever purposely compromise that foundation.” He adds that he and his partners have invested heavily to ensure that their labs are never in the dark about the quality of ingredients they use and that they have the technology needed to guarantee prosthetics that fit according to specifications and are as comfortable as they can be.
“This South Carolina law requires an analysis, by percentage, of each ingredient used in production of dental devices coming to in-state dentists,” says Bates. The law also requires that any lab performing prescription work for dentists licensed and practicing in South Carolina demonstrate that the work is authorized by a lab employee registered with that state’s Board of Dentistry.
“We already have the technology to scan metal and porcelain prosthetics, to determine percentages of all elements present. Not only do we offer it for our clients, but we also offer spectrum scanning to non-client dental practices and other dental labs wanting assurance of quality ingredients.”
But what about the concern over offshore dental labs? Bates explains that while the concern about quality ingredients is just as real with regard to offshore labs as it is with some domestic labs, practices should not make the mistake of writing off all labs offshore. The same diligence to work with a trustworthy lab is needed in both instances.
Southern Craft is unique among operators of offshore dental labs. In 2002, Bates set out to be the first American owner of a Chinese dental lab. Other American dental labs contracted with Chinese labs for production of dental devices but had no quality control. That put them in a precarious position, says Bates. After two years of hard groundwork, the lab, American Sky Dental Lab, became the first American-owned-and-operated dental lab in China.
“We actually developed our own lab in China to take advantage of the extreme artistic skills of Chinese craftsmen, but did things our way. We have a partner on site at all times, we train our own managers and technicians, set our own policies, order quality, FDA-approved ingredients from respected manufacturers and monitor the work closely,” says Bates.
Turnover and employee problems are not a significant issue at the lab, named American Sky Dental Lab, in the city of Zhuhai in Guangdong Province. Bates pays its valued employees approximately twice the prevailing pay rate and provides free housing and insurance as well. “They are an extremely happy group of workers who desire to make sure their work is done in excellence and in a timely manner,” he says.
Self-governance is the best policy for dental labs, Bates concedes. But when some labs opt out of self-governance, and it no longer works as dentists and their patients have a right to expect, he says that standards-setting laws are welcome. In fact, he is working with legislators to create more responsible laws not only in Georgia, but nationwide.
Southern Craft Dental Lab was founded in 1985. Since that time, the owners have established American International Dental Lab, Lawrenceville, GA, and American Sky Dental Lab, Zhuhai, China. For more information on laws restricting dental labs, as well as spectrum analysis of dental device ingredients, contact Southern Craft Dental Laboratories Inc. in Gainesville, Ga., at (770) 536-7554. Or visit www.scdentallab.com.