How much does QC really cost?
In the aligner industry, 100% of cases must pass QC. Here’s what that actually looks like:
- Dental tech opens patient account and scans
- Reviews each jaw, all teeth, and gum (even small defects take careful attention)
- Checks for hyperocclusion
- Compares scans with photos (sometimes occlusion doesn’t match, sometimes photos even belong to different patients)
This step alone takes about 5 minutes per case.
And in 7–12% of cases, something goes wrong:
- Missing files
- Poor scan quality
- Occlusion mismatch
When that happens:
- Tech must create a note for the doctor (+5 min)
- Later QC the retaken scans (+5 min)
The math
For a lab with 1,000 cases per month (700 new + 300 refinements):
- Base QC = 116 hours
- Reports for problem cases = 14 hours
- QC of rescans = 14 hours
Total = 144 hours per month ≈ one full-time employee.
And that’s just the direct cost. Business owners also pay for:
- Managers overseeing QC
- Technology and systems supporting QC
- Training new staff
- Replacements during vacation or sick leave
The real question
What’s the true cost of QC — and how much of it could be automated.
What does QC look like in your business?
