Sherring-Lucas dental lab joins British Bite Mark
Sherring-Lucas Dental Laboratory has become one of the first dental laboratories in the country to join the British Bite Mark campaign.
The campaign is aimed at all UK dentistry patients who are about to have a new crown, implant, denture or veneer fitted. Launched by the Dental Laboratories Association (DLA), the Bite Mark aims to offer patients the knowledge of where their new dental appliances have been made and whether they comply with UK and EU regulations.
In recent months a significant number of dentists have sought to send their prescriptions abroad to dental laboratories in the Far East to help reduce their overheads, rather than going through the traditional route of local dental laboratories based in the UK.
Just like Sherring-Lucas Dental Laboratory, all dental laboratories in the UK comply with strict regulations in terms of the materials they use. They must also employ dental technicians that are registered with the General Dental Council. This level of regulation is put in place to protect the patient from second-rate dental appliances. However, imported appliances are not manufactured by registered dental technicians and as such they are not guaranteed to comply with regulations. UK regulators do not inspect dental laboratories in the Far East and elsewhere that manufacture these foreign appliances.
The Dental Laboratories Association appreciates that the different levels of regulation and professional requirements in the dental laboratory industry can be confusing to patients. As a result they have designed the British Bite Mark logo, which will at a glance help to inform patients that their dental appliance has been manufactured in the UK under UK regulations.
As a licensed British Bite Mark dental laboratory, Sherring-Lucas Dental Laboratory is recognised as meeting all the legal requirements to manufacture crowns, bridges, dentures and veneers in the UK, and as such are able to carry the British Bite Mark logo.
Commenting on the British Bite Mark campaign, the owners of Sherring-Lucas Dental Laboratory, Gary Young and Bill Manning, had this to say: “We are delighted to have been accepted to use the British Bite Mark logo. It is essential that patients receiving custom made dental appliances manufactured from our dental laboratory can be confident that they are safe and compliant – and this logo does exactly that, without the patient having to do lengthy research or ask questions that they may feel uncomfortable asking when visiting the dentist.”
Visit the Sherring-Lucas Dental Laboratory website at http://www.sherringlucas.co.uk/.
