Overview

The 6,500 dental labs in the US design and fabricate custom dental prosthetic appliances, such as dentures, crowns, and bridges, for dentist offices and practices. Primary products include fixed and removable prosthetic devices, cosmetic devices, and orthodontic devices. Other products include sports guards and anti-snoring devices.

Foreign Competition

Domestic dental labs compete with foreign labs in China, Mexico, and India, which have specialized in offering low-priced partial frames and traditional crowns, especially zirconia-based restorations.

Competition from In-Office Technology

Advances in technology allow dentists to produce certain dental appliances in-office, replacing services from dental labs with their internal operations.