Disclosure: this guide is written by Khai Nguyen Dental Lab, a ceramic laboratory in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We benefit when dentists choose us, so every criterion below is framed as something a clinic can verify independently with any laboratory, not only ours. The section about Khai Nguyen is at the end.
Choosing a dental laboratory directly affects your remake rate, chair time and your reputation with patients. The unit price is only part of the real cost: a lab that is 30% cheaper but doubles your remakes saves you nothing and costs you an extra appointment per failed unit. Below are ten criteria for evaluating a lab, whether it is across town or overseas, each with a way to check it and a question to ask before you send the first case.
1. A certified quality management system, with a certificate you can verify
Why it matters: a dental restoration is a custom-made medical device. ISO 13485 is the quality-management standard written specifically for medical-device manufacturers: documented work instructions, calibrated equipment, recorded complaints and corrective actions. An ISO 13485 certificate does not guarantee every unit will be beautiful, but it does mean defects are traced and corrected systematically instead of case by case.
How to check: ask for the certificate showing the number, the certification body and the expiry date, then look it up on the certification body’s register. For labs outside your country, ask which national medical-device registrations they hold; in Vietnam, for example, the Ministry of Health issues a Certificate of Free Sale for restorations. If you are comparing offshore options, read our country-by-country comparison of dental lab outsourcing.
Question to ask: “Can I see your current ISO 13485 certificate and any medical-device registration for your restorations?”
2. Brand-name materials, named on the delivery note and traceable by lot
Why it matters: “zirconia” and “pressed ceramic” are material classes, not products. A 3Y-TZP disc from a major manufacturer is rated around 1,200–1,300 MPa and backed by clinical data; a disc of unknown origin has no one standing behind it when it fractures. You need to know whether your case was made from 3M Lava Esthetic, IPS e.max, Cercon or DD Bio so you can prescribe correctly and tell the patient what is in their mouth.
How to check: the delivery note should state the brand and the material lot number. Ask whether the lab has a formal relationship with the manufacturer (Ivoclar’s Lab Partner programme, authorised 3M or Dentsply Sirona distribution). Our comparison of zirconia, lithium disilicate and feldspathic ceramics shows which class suits which indication.
Question to ask: “Which brand and lot number was used for this case, and can you show a purchase record from an authorised distributor?”
3. A clear digital workflow that is compatible with your scanner
Why it matters: most fit and contact problems start with the input data. The lab must accept STL, PLY or DCM files from iTero, 3Shape TRIOS, Medit, Primescan and other scanners, and must tell you immediately when a scan is missing the bite or the margin is unclear, rather than quietly guessing and shipping a unit that does not fit.
How to check: send one test scan and time the response. Ask whether you get a design preview (screenshots or a 3D viewer link) to approve before milling. Our guide to intraoral scanner compatibility and file formats lists what to include with each export.
Question to ask: “Which scanners and file formats do you accept, which CAD software do you design in, and can I approve the design before production?”
4. In-house production equipment, with no critical step subcontracted
Why it matters: a lab that sends your milling or pressing to another lab controls neither the schedule nor the quality. The CAD/CAM mill, zirconia sintering furnace, press furnace, porcelain furnace and ceramic layering room should be under one roof, so that every step has a named person responsible for it.
How to check: visit the lab, or ask for a video of the actual production floor. Ask for the make of the mill and sintering furnace and how often they are calibrated. As an example of what to look for, see the porcelain furnace and CAD/CAM equipment we describe on our site.
Question to ask: “Which steps are done on your premises, and which are sent elsewhere?”
5. Named technicians with real expertise and ongoing training
Why it matters: with the same materials and machines, the difference between two labs is the technician, especially in layering, shade work and occlusal control. A serious lab will tell you who is working on your case and let you talk to them when needed.
How to check: ask whether the lab runs internal training or invites external clinicians and ceramists, and how many years of experience the technician assigned to your esthetic cases has. Our news and events section lists some of the workshops we have hosted, including one on digital impressions and material selection.
Question to ask: “Who is the technician responsible for my anterior cases, and how do I contact them directly?”
6. Turnaround times committed in writing, and met
Why it matters: you book the patient’s next appointment around the promised delivery date. A lab that is one day late costs you one appointment and some of the patient’s trust. Turnaround should be stated per restoration type (a monolithic zirconia crown is not a layered anterior bridge), not as a single number, and for overseas labs it should be split into in-lab time and courier time.
How to check: ask for a turnaround table by restoration type and track on-time delivery over your first ten cases. At Khai Nguyen, standard digital cases take 1.5–3 working days in the lab, layered esthetic work takes longer, and DHL Express delivers to most countries in 3–4 days. Details are in our article on turnaround time and shipping from a Vietnam dental lab.
Question to ask: “What is the turnaround for a zirconia crown, an e.max crown, a layered veneer and an implant bridge, and what happens when you miss a date?”
7. A clear warranty and remake policy, with a warranty card per restoration
Why it matters: restorations can fracture, debond or discolour. What you need to know in advance is who pays for the remake, for how long, and what is excluded. A warranty tiered by material (for example six months for removable appliances and up to fifteen years for zirconia) is more credible than one blanket figure for everything.
How to check: read the warranty policy published on the lab’s website and look for the warranty card that ships with the case. You can use Khai Nguyen’s ordering, shipping, payment and warranty policies as a reference when comparing.
Question to ask: “How long is the warranty for each material, what is excluded, and who pays the shipping on a remake?”
8. Reliable shipping and controlled packaging
Why it matters: thin ceramic restorations break in transit, and a case mixed up between two clinics is an unacceptable error. The lab needs a sealing and labelling procedure, a photograph of every case before it ships, and, for international work, a tracked express courier with a known transit time.
How to check: ask which courier is used, whether shipments are tracked, whether the lab handles the export declaration, and whether you receive case photos before delivery for comparison on arrival. Our four-step ordering process describes how we do this.
Question to ask: “How are cases packed and shipped, and who is responsible if a unit is damaged in transit?”
9. Remake rates that are recorded and shared openly
Why it matters: the real cost of a lab is unit price multiplied by (1 + remake rate) plus your chair time. A good lab tracks remakes per dentist and works with you to find the cause (scan, preparation, design or production) instead of trading blame.
How to check: after your first 10–20 cases, ask the lab for a summary of remakes and their reasons. A lab that has no such data is a lab without a system.
Question to ask: “What is your average remake rate, and how do you record the cause of each remake?”
10. Transparent pricing from a published list, with no surprises on difficult cases
Why it matters: an unusually low price usually means unbranded material or a skipped inspection step. What you need is a price list by material and complexity (monolithic, cut-back and layered, fully layered), with the rush-case surcharge stated up front.
How to check: compare the price lists of two or three labs on the same brand-name material, never on “zirconia” in general. Run two or three identical trial cases at each lab before signing anything. Our article on what to expect to pay a Vietnam dental lab explains how offshore pricing is structured.
Question to ask: “Can I have your price list by material and complexity, what is your payment cycle, and what is the surcharge for rush cases?”
Download the checklist
Download the 10-point dental lab evaluation checklist (PDF) and use it with any laboratory you are considering. Each criterion has a tick box and space to record the lab’s answer.
How Khai Nguyen Dental Lab measures up
- Certification: quality management system certified to ISO 13485:2016 (certificate No. 9199293420717-MED, ISOCERT); restorations hold Certificates of Free Sale issued by the Vietnam Ministry of Health in June 2025. See our outsourcing overview for the full quality system.
- Materials: brand-name discs and ingots only, from 3M, Ivoclar Vivadent, Dentsply Sirona, GC, Shofu and Dental Direkt, with lot traceability; Ivoclar Lab Partner and official Invisalign partner.
- Digital workflow: open STL, PLY and DCM from any common scanner, design in exocad, design preview on request before production.
- In-house equipment: CAD/CAM milling, sintering, pressing and a hand-layering ceramic department at one site in Ho Chi Minh City.
- Technicians: a team trained by experienced clinicians, with regular workshops led by local and international specialists.
- Turnaround: 1.5–3 working days in the lab for standard digital cases; DHL Express delivery in 3–4 days with tracking.
- Warranty: 6 months to 15 years depending on material, with a warranty card for every case.
Want to test us before you commit? Send two or three trial cases through our contact page or WhatsApp +84 902 945 585, and we will review the results with you against these ten criteria. If you have more questions first, see the outsourcing FAQ.
