3D Printing Lab at ALFIE Dentistry

Fun Fact about ALFIE Dentistry - before we had built our Willowdale office, we were already planning for the future - we had envisioned a one-stop-shop type of dental practice like no other. Sure, we provided a broad range of services at our Yonge & Steeles location - after all, we do understand that most people do not want to go to one practice for one issue, then shuffled over to another specialist for another issue. So, our team is definitely well-trained for most dental procedures. But we were outgrowing our practice at Yonge & Steeles - because we were already dreaming about having our own in-house lab (and a bigger staff lunch room, LOL).

Fast-forward to the present day and we are doing most of our cases in our ALFIE Studios! We can confidently say that we are currently sending fewer than 10% of our cases to third-party dental laboratories. Why is this a good thing?

1| We can keep a better eye on quality control

We won't beat around the bush, our dentists have a keen eye for details and if most people put in 100%, our dentists put in 2000%. Which is a good thing - because we won't put anything in your mouth that we think is sub-par. We stick to reliable and established brands and value quality and craftsmanship. Keeping laboratory production within our own walls means that we can raise the bar and make sure everything we put out is top notch.

2| You get your dental appliance(s) and restorations quicker

When we first got into dentistry, most cases required at minimum, a week between the prep date and the delivery date, simply because they needed to be sent out to a third party lab. And if something didn't fit or whatnot, our patients would have to be patient and wait about another week. And if the temporaries came off, the patient would be booked back in - which meant maybe taking time off work or something else important to them, to get things sorted out.

Nowadays, we're offering services like same-day crowns - so you don't have to wait.

While many people had no problems waiting (because what else could they do?), there were also a few memorable cases - for example, we remember one person had cracked their crown one day before they were going to attend a wedding. And because of Murphy's law - it was a tooth that was close to the front - so if they smiled, everyone would see. Luckily, we were about to fix it before the event!

3| We didn't have to rely on third parties to make your dental replacements/devices etc.

This in itself was more impactful than expected because of the pandemic. So many businesses were closed for at least a couple of weeks while they got their PPE and barriers and protection and etc - and so many businesses are still closed. Having our own dental lab meant that it was business as usual for us, once we got the OK from the government to resume non-essential services.

So what do we make inside of ALFIE Studios?

We can create 3D study models of teeth, implant surgical guides, and create night guards and retainers from 3D models. Using CEREC technology, we also make in-house crowns and bridges for patients. We are so looking forward to additional applications of these technologies!