When spreadsheets are enough
If your dental lab handles a small number of cases per week, only one or two technicians work on them, all dentists are people you can call easily, and you do not need to track inventory or generate many invoices, a spreadsheet is probably enough.
When spreadsheets stop working
- You start to lose cases or forget deadlines.
- Files for a case live in many places (email, WhatsApp, desktop).
- Dentists call to ask for status updates.
- Invoices take a long time to prepare and contain mistakes.
- You run out of materials at the wrong moment.
- You cannot answer "how is the lab performing this month?" without a lot of work.
Side-by-side
| Capability | Spreadsheets | Dental Lab Guru |
|---|---|---|
| Structured case records | Manual columns | Built in |
| File attachments per case | External | Attached to case |
| Deadline alerts | None | Yes |
| Dentist self-service portal | None | Yes |
| Inventory and low-stock alerts | Manual | Yes |
| Invoices from cases | Manual | Yes |
| Reports | Manual | Built in |
| Cost | Low or free | $449/year |
Our honest take
For a one-person lab handling a handful of cases per week, a spreadsheet is fine. As soon as you have multiple technicians, multiple dentists, and you want to grow, a dedicated case management system like Dental Lab Guru is a better fit.