 In many dental practices, the word ‘locum’ still carries a stigma. Expensive. Inconsistent. A last-minute solution when something has already gone wrong. But in today’s workforce climate, that perception may need revisiting.
Recruitment challenges are ongoing. Teams are stretched. Compliance standards remain high. And patient demand hasn’t eased. For many practices, staffing gaps aren’t occasional disruptions - they’re an operational reality. The question isn’t whether locum support is needed. It’s whether we’re thinking about it in the right way
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 If you asked most dentists, dental nurses, or practice managers what a dental laboratory does, the answer would probably be fairly straightforward.
"We send impressions, scans, and prescriptions. The laboratory makes the work. We fit it." Whilst that is technically correct, it only scratches the surface of what happens behind the scenes. From our experience at Bremadent Dental Laboratory, many dental professionals are surprised when they discover how a modern dental laboratory actually operates as a business and production environment. In fact, one of the biggest misconceptions we encounter is that laboratories primarily work for one practice at a time, or that the workload arriving each day is predictable and controlled. The reality is very different. Understanding how a dental laboratory functions helps explain why communication, planning, realistic turnaround times, and strong partnerships are so important within dentistry.  If you work in dentistry long enough, you quickly learn one very important lesson. Sometimes, what appears to be a “bad denture” is not actually a bad denture at all. Last week at Bremadent Dental Laboratory, we started noticing something unusual. A particular set of denture cases from the same practice kept returning with similar comments.
“Loose on one side.” “Not fitting properly.” “Lifting posteriorly.” Now, every laboratory takes remakes and adjustments seriously. No reputable lab simply blames the clinic and moves on. When a case comes back, we investigate it properly because ultimately we all want the same thing. A comfortable, functional denture and a happy patient. After having an open and honest conversation with the dentist and the team, we started going through the full workflow together from impression to model pouring. What we discovered was something that happens far more often than people realise. There are many small variables in impression taking that can completely affect the fit of a denture and the scary part is this. Most of them happen before the impression even reaches the laboratory.  If you’ve ever walked into a surgery and asked for a shade, you’ll know the situation. The nurse opens a drawer, pulls out a shade guide, and it’s either incomplete, disorganised, or nowhere to be found. In some cases, there isn’t one at all. It’s more common than people think, especially in busy dental practices where time is tight and systems aren’t always followed consistently.
At Bremadent Dental Laboratory, we see this every day. Shade communication is one of the most critical parts of achieving predictable restorative outcomes, yet it’s often one of the weakest links in the chain. That gap is exactly what led us to explore a simple, practical solution for dental teams.  As a dental laboratory, we see hundreds of relines and additions every year. Some are absolute textbook cases and a joy to process. Others, let’s be honest, arrive with a level of mystery that would challenge even the most optimistic technician. The difference between those two outcomes nearly always comes down to one thing: the quality and accuracy of the clinical impression.
At Bremadent Dental Laboratory, we created a clear, practical clinical guide for relines and additions to help dentists and dental teams achieve predictable, reliable results first time. This blog is built directly from that guide and expands on the reasoning behind it, the common pitfalls we see, and how a few small changes chairside can save time, frustration, and remakes for everyone involved This is not about telling clinicians how to do their job. It is about sharing what we see daily at the bench and helping bridge the gap between surgery and laboratory so patients get the outcome they deserve. |
Private Dental Laboratory in London
 Kash Qureshi - Managing Director, Clinical Dental Technician
About the author:
Kash Qureshi is a Clinical Dental Technician (Denturist) in the U.K who oversees and quality controls over 3000+ fixed and removable prosthesis including implant cases from a clinical and technical aspect monthly at Bremadent Dental Laboratory & Swissedent Denture Clinic in London. www.swissedent.co.uk www.bremadent.co.uk [email protected] Categories
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