Dental technology in crisis: BAPD
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- Published: Wednesday, 09 December 2020 07:34
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The British Association of Private Dentistry continues to raise awareness of the plight felt across our industry, particularly within the laboratory sector. This week, ceramist and BAPD member Phil Reddington, updates the dentists. He paints a dire picture of the state of dental technology being ‘more volatile than I have known it to be at any time in my 30 plus years in the trade.’
‘The current state of Dental Technology. Over the last 6 months we have seen Dental Laboratories cease trading, leading to 1000’s of job losses across the industry. Many highly skilled and experienced Dental Technicians who have had to take temporary work in other fields are worried they may never return to the trade they love. For the luckier Laboratories who have a mainly private client base with loyal dentists choosing to work with UK based labs, the pandemic has resulted in wildly fluctuating levels of work.
Though all work coming in is of course welcome, the swing between over capacity and under capacity makes managing appropriate staffing levels very difficult. At present this is the best scenario we can hope for, and Technicians and Surgeons will work together to ensure as smooth a workflow, production and dispatch as possible.
Compounding the struggles which COVID has left many Laboratories with, is the cessation of restorative NHS Dentistry. Dentists are looking for new teams to work with to create their restorations and the fear is the financial fallout of the pandemic may push them to make savings by sending cases to be manufactured outside the UK, for example China. Whilst I know and appreciate that COVID has had a huge economic impact on us all, I would urge every dentist still restoring to think about utilising the highly skilled and dedicated technicians based in the UK.
Reach out, tell them your needs and build new relationships, not only to help keep UK Dental Technology alive, but also to improve the quality of your restorations through the synergy to be found working alongside our talented UK Dental Technicians. I would like to say thank you to the BAPD for supporting UK Laboratories, and the DLA for their massive efforts to assist and support Dental Technicians through the pandemic.’
Phil Reddington - Managing Director and Head Ceramist, Beever Dental Technology Ltd
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