In-Lab Custom Shades

Making new teeth is 90% manufacturing and prototyping, but it is also 10% art. When aesthetics must be elevated to the highest level, the patient can come right here to our lab and be viewed by the ceramist working on the case. There are specific limitations to what we can do, so please do not ask us to remove provisionals or to treatment plan with the patient, as we are not dentists.

What we can do, however, is put the person who will actually be making the crowns in the room with the patient to get first-hand observations of color, texture, and shape. Our custom shade room is set aside from the main lab floor, with a comfortable waiting area. The room is adjacent to our glass front and an exterior door so the patient can go outside with the ceramist and view their teeth in different light sources.

Taking a shade is a translation, first from the patient to the practice, then from the practice to the lab, then from the technician to the restoration. When aesthetics are critical, decreasing the steps decreases the chance of something being lost in translation.