Everyone knows what a dentist does. You sit in the chair, they check your teeth, maybe take an impression or scan, and talk about how to fix or improve your smile. But what happens after that? Those impressions and scans don’t just sit around waiting for magic to happen. They get sent to a dental laboratory, where the real transformation begins. That is where dental technicians come in.

A dental technician is the person who designs and creates the restorations that help people eat, speak and smile with confidence. These include dentures, crowns, bridges, veneers, aligners, mouthguards and even custom grills. They use a combination of science, technology and artistry to turn dental data into something real. It is a career where creativity meets precision, and no two days are ever the same. Every case is a real patient, every smile has a story, and every restoration is a piece of work you can be proud of.

Cosmetic dentistry is more than teeth whitening and veneer placement. At its heart lies a principle that bridges mathematics, art and aesthetics: the golden proportion. For centuries this ratio has guided artists, architects and now dentists in creating harmony and balance. But how relevant is it really in a modern dental setting and how can we as dental professionals use it to our advantage without turning every patient into a walking mathematical formula

Let us take a look at how the golden proportion fits into cosmetic dentistry and why it continues to generate lively debates in clinics and laboratories alike.

When a patient sits in your chair and asks for the perfect smile, you know the responsibility lands on your shoulders. Veneers, crowns, bridges, implants, dentures… you plan the treatment, you prep the teeth, you take the impressions or scans. But behind every great dentist is a cosmetic dental laboratory turning that plan into reality. Without the lab, your patient’s dream smile is nothing more than a waxy bite block and a hopeful drawing on the treatment plan.

At Bremadent, we like to think of ourselves as the backstage crew in the theatre of dentistry. You are the star performer under the lights, and we are the people making sure the scenery does not collapse halfway through the show. The cosmetic dental laboratory is where art meets science, where technology meets craftsmanship, and where your patients’ confidence is carefully designed, milled, layered, polished, and boxed up ready for fitting.

Dental laboratory corporates, they’re here! they have taken over and if you don’t play nice, your livelihood is on the line!

I said two years ago, after COVID,  was a prime time for dental laboratories to be taken over by corporate entities due to the way dental laboratories was treated during the COVID period and the way the cash flow has been for dental laboratories on a 28 day credit basis. The article I saw on a report stated that “the dental laboratory industry is ripe due to it being a fragmented market instead of a concentrated market”.

In the last year alone, over 50 dental laboratories have been part of acquisitions through out the UK with 2 – 3 main players dominating this space and new ones entering as of 2024.

Rando is short for random, I came across this term upon a meeting with a dental practice who used this phrase when they were talking about their associates using ‘rando’ labs for their laboratory work, this phrase did make me laugh.