Business finance for dental laboratories

The funding pressures of a dental lab

A dental laboratory is a manufacturer working to clinical tolerances on someone else's payment terms. Three pressures stack up. First, materials are expensive and partly priced on commodity markets — precious-metal alloys for crowns and bridges, zirconia and lithium-disilicate blocks, milling discs and printing resins all have to be bought before a case earns anything, and gold prices move whether you like it or not. Second, the work is labour-intensive and skill-bound: technicians and a wage bill run continuously, but a complex case can sit in production for days. Third, you are paid on the practice's terms. Labs typically invoice dentists monthly and wait 30 days or more, so you fund metal, materials and payroll well ahead of the cash. A move to digital makes this sharper, because the capital sits in kit rather than spread across consumables.

What dental labs typically borrow for

Funding in this sector is usually about capacity, capability or cash timing:

• CAD/CAM and milling equipment — a dry or wet mill, a 3D printer, an intraoral-scan-to-design workflow or a sintering furnace, each a serious capital outlay.
• Precious-metal and materials stock, including buying ahead when alloy or zirconia pricing is favourable.
• Bridging practice payment terms so technician wages and supplier accounts are met before dentists settle.
• Hiring or training technicians, or fitting out extra bench and digital-design space to take on more practices.

Spreading a milling-suite purchase over a sensible term lets the new capacity start earning before it is fully paid for.

What to think about before borrowing

For a digital investment, build the case on throughput: how many extra units per week the mill or printer adds, and how quickly that earned capacity repays the finance. Match the term to the asset — short-term finance suits materials, a metal buy or a payment-terms bridge, while a milling suite you will run for years may suit asset finance or a lease. Watch your debtor concentration too: if one or two large practices dominate your sales ledger, a late payer hurts more, and that risk belongs in your repayment planning. Compare the all-in cost, read the terms, and keep repayments inside a normal month. General information, not advice.

How short-term company finance fits

A Credicorp business loan can fund a defined project — a milling suite, a printer, a materials buy — with a clear repayment path, lending to the limited company with no personal guarantee so it never sits against you personally. For the recurring gap between paying technicians and being paid by practices, a revolving Credicorp Flex facility lets you draw when the metal and wage bills cluster and repay as practice invoices clear, paying only for what you use. Funds suit working capital and equipment rather than long-life property. You can apply online and see indicative terms first.