Getting in Front of It
A competitive advantage
Executive Editor Daniel Alter, MSc, MDT, CDT | dalter@aegiscomm.com
As we begin to emerge out of the pandemic—hopefully—and into what is becoming the new normal, reflecting and continuously strategizing is imperative in order to recognize and speculate on the market, and get our laboratories in front of it. Being at the forefront of technology and innovations can establish your laboratory's competitive advantages as a first mover and thereby make the laboratory a "go-to" source for advances and best-in-class restorative solutions.
How does a laboratory owner or manager accomplish that? The simple, but not so simple, answer is to continuously analyze the dental clinical space in order to identify any challenges and their potential solutions for your dentist clientele, and according to a recent press release from 360 Research Reports, "The dental laboratories market is growing at a parallel pace with [the] dental healthcare market. The increase in the number of dental healthcare centers [and] clinics … are among the key factors driving the dental laboratories market."
Among multiple drivers of this healthy growth, additive technology seems to take front and center when speaking of opportunities and breadth of solutions—simply because of the number of indications, materials, and complexities for which additive manufacturing be applied. However, laboratory owners should never limit themselves or their businesses to a singular output; rather, expand your mindset and approach technology by asking which other possibilities it can offer. More often than not, those revelations can provide you with the competitive edge you seek, as well as a direct increase to your revenue stream and further opportunities for your dentist clients to reap additional benefits by offering enhanced solutions to their patients that were perhaps previously unthought-of.
Our cover story this month offers those exact convictions and perspectives from laboratory owners who harness such mindsets and are constantly looking to expand and grow their laboratories' expertise and dental restorative solutions. Making an investment in equipment in order to offer or accomplish a singular output may be overwhelming to some, but looking past the singular function and reflecting on its potential possibilities, similar and expansive to those covered in the cover story, will yield greater revenues and further opportunities. Your laboratory may enter a space within the dental market that you have not participated in before, opening a revenue stream previously untapped. An example of such are those laboratories who for years have specialized in fixed restorative solutions and are now entering the removable space, and those same laboratories are not only capturing revenues from the removable market, but often finding themselves elevated to hybrid restorative offerings, because they can offer that service to their clientele, which ultimately provides for the best restorative protocols for the patients. In this way, having an open mindset and getting in front is a win-win scenario for both the laboratory and the dentist, but most importantly the best in class for the patient.
It is my honor and pleasure to elevate and inspire with knowledge!
