Frequently Asked Questions

How we work with dental practices — submitting cases, turnaround, materials, digital workflow, pricing and support. If your question is not here, call the lab or send it through the form.

Most of what dentists ask before switching labs comes down to a few things: how to submit a case, how fast it comes back, what it costs, and who to call when something is time-sensitive. Here are straight answers, grouped by topic.

General

General Questions About Universal Dental Lab

We are a full-service dental laboratory: crown and bridge, implant and full-arch restorations, removable partials and dentures, veneers and anterior esthetics, occlusal appliances and orthodontic retention. Alongside the products we offer digital services — CAD/CAM design, digital smile design, scan processing — and case planning support.

We are based at 132 W. Verdugo Ave, Burbank, CA 91502, and serve dental practices across California. With digital submission we ship finished cases nationwide, so distance rarely limits anything.

Yes. We work with general practices, cosmetic dentists, implant specialists, prosthodontists, and multi-location groups — each with a workflow built around what that practice actually sends.

Who we serve

Open an account and we set up shipping or local pickup, record your preferences, and walk your first case through with you. New practices are welcome — there are no long-term contracts, and you can start with a single unit.

Open an account

Case submission

Case Submission and Workflow

Upload an intraoral scan as an STL file, or ship a conventional impression and bite registration. Most practices run a mix — digital for crown and bridge, conventional for some removable work — and both are fully supported.

Upload a file

Yes. We accept STL files from all major intraoral systems, including iTero, 3Shape and Medit, straight into our CAD/CAM workflow.

Digital protocols

The prepped-arch and opposing impressions, a bite registration, the shade — and a stump shade when the prep is discolored — plus photographs for any anterior or layered case.

Send your instructions with the case and you deal with the technician holding it, not a call-center queue. Ask what stage a unit is at and the answer comes from the person making it.

Turnaround & shipping

Turnaround Time and Shipping

Turnaround is quoted per case at intake rather than promised as a blanket number, because a monolithic posterior crown and a layered anterior unit are not the same job. Tell us the seat date when you send the case and we confirm what is achievable before we start.

Rush availability and any premium are quoted when the case is booked in, so there is no surprise. If anything slips, you hear it from us before your front desk has to call the patient.

Ship cases to the lab and we return finished work on schedule; in the area we also arrange local pickup and delivery. With digital submission the scan arrives instantly and the case ships back on time.

Local pickup

Services

Services and Restorations

Crowns in zirconia, IPS e.max, PFM, PFZ and cast gold; bridges; veneers; cast, flexible and acetal partials; complete and implant-supported dentures; implant restorations; nightguards and splints; and orthodontic retainers.

Dental crowns

Yes — custom abutments, screw-retained crowns, full-arch hybrids, milled titanium bars, plus CBCT-based planning and surgical guide design.

Implant and surgical support

Yes. Anterior and esthetic cases are hand-layered by a dedicated technician, with custom shade matching and diagnostic wax-ups or digital smile design in the workflow.

Aesthetic and anterior expertise

Digital dentistry

Digital Dentistry

Yes. We accept digital impressions from all major scanners as STL files and design against them in CAD/CAM. Partner practices can also receive a free 3Shape TRIOS 6 scanner for the length of the partnership.

A case designed against a clean scan removes the variables of shipping and pouring an impression, which tends to reduce remakes. That said, conventional records remain fully supported and are the right call for certain cases.

Yes. We process and digitize conventional records into the CAD/CAM workflow when a case is submitted conventionally.

Intraoral scan file processing

Pricing & billing

Pricing and Billing

Pricing is by case — material, design and workflow — rather than a single flat list, and we return a firm quote when you send the details. Send the case specifics and you get pricing and a timeline before anything is committed.

See how pricing works

Yes. High-volume practices and multi-location groups are priced on volume and case mix rather than per-location list rates.

Pricing for DSOs

Our remake and adjustment terms are published rather than decided case by case, so you know what is covered before you prescribe.

Remakes and reliability

Quality & support

Quality and Clinical Support

Every unit is checked on the model before it ships — margins, proximal contacts and the opposing occlusion — under magnification. When the records will not produce a seatable restoration, we call you before we mill it.

Your case stays with one technician who is reachable directly, so design decisions get discussed while there is still time to change them. Your preferences and shade records travel with your account.

Yes. Anterior units and difficult stump shades go through custom shade matching against your photos, with cross-polarized photography and an optional bisque try-in for the hardest matches.

Custom shade matching

Implant & surgical

Implant and Surgical Support

Yes. Send the CBCT and an intraoral scan and we plan the implants against both, driven by the final restorative position, and design tooth- or tissue-borne surgical guides for your approval before anything is printed.

Guided implant planning

Yes. We mill custom abutments to your implant system and build full-arch hybrids on verified frameworks, with vertical dimension and passive fit confirmed before the case ships.

For implant specialists

Planning, the surgical guide, the provisional and the final restoration are made on one account referencing the same records — so the plan you approved is the case you receive.

Accounts & partnership

Account and Partnership

Yes. Groups get one account manager, one written standard held at every location, and pricing structured to the group. We pilot one location first before the rest move over.

For DSOs and multi-location clinics

Yes. You reach a named technician for your cases and an account contact for the practice — not a different rep and a different answer each time.

That is how we work by default. Your cases stay with the technician who knows them, and your shade and preference records are kept with the account so case two starts from what worked on case one.

Still have a question?

Ask the lab directly

Send your question or open an account, and you hear back from the people making the work — not a call center.

  • A straight answer from the lab, not a bot
  • Start with one case — no long-term contract
  • Free 3Shape TRIOS 6 scanner for active partners

Prefer to talk? +1 747-268-0808

No call center — you hear back from the lab, not a bot.

Partner Offer

A Free Intraoral Scanner for Partner Practices

Partner with Universal Dental Lab and we place a 3Shape TRIOS 6 Wireless in your operatory — free for the length of our partnership. Scan the prep, send it in seconds, and skip impressions entirely.