Scheduling & capacity
Dental CAD turnaround time: what should your lab actually agree?
A promise of overnight CAD design means little if the two teams count different hours. Labs need a usable design before their own review and production deadline. This guide turns a turnaround claim into a schedule that both sides can check, without assuming every case fits the same delivery window.
The short answer
Agree when complete inputs are accepted, the time zone and dated delivery target, the outputs due at that time, and how questions or revisions change the schedule. Keep first-proposal delivery separate from lab approval and manufacturing. Mocoore confirms design scope and target delivery case by case.
Lab workflow templates
Download a blank CSV to adapt for your lab. Use the agreed secure channel for completed case records.
Define the starting event
An upload receipt confirms transfer, not that the designer can start. Missing bite data, unclear tooth notation or an unidentified component can require clarification. Ask the provider to acknowledge readiness or list what is missing. Record the accepted input version so a replacement scan does not silently become part of the original promise.
- Log uploaded, checked and ready-for-design as separate events.
- Confirm whether the quoted clock begins at upload or after input acceptance.
Write a dated deadline in both time zones
Use a date, local time and time-zone name or UTC offset. Tomorrow morning becomes ambiguous across borders. Confirm business days, weekend coverage and any submission cutoff. Recheck offsets when either team changes daylight-saving time; a saved calendar reminder can otherwise move the effective handoff.
- State the lab review deadline as well as the designer delivery target.
- Ask whether a case received after cutoff moves to the next working queue.
Reserve a review window before production
The first proposal may need discussion. Leave time for the lab reviewer to open the promised files, check the design and consolidate feedback before any downstream manufacturing slot. A preview, editable project and agreed output mesh are different deliverables; specify which must arrive by the target time.
- Name one review owner and a backup contact.
- Record proposal received and version accepted separately.
Agree what pauses or changes the plan
A changed prescription, added restoration or replacement scan can alter scope. Ask for an updated target rather than treating every change as the same revision. If a provider spots incomplete inputs, agree who responds and when the schedule will be reconfirmed. There is no universal free-revision or rush policy across design services.
- Tie each change to the case ID, input version and reason.
- Confirm any rush charge and feasibility before promising a downstream date.
Compare suppliers using complete-case records
Track agreed target, actual proposal arrival, input questions, review effort and accepted version over representative cases. Separate missing-input time from design time. A single fast trial is useful evidence for that workflow, not proof of unlimited capacity. Use the record to route routine work, complex work and overflow deliberately.
- Compare like-for-like case types and promised outputs.
- Ask Mocoore for a case-specific schedule using your software, scope and required review window.
Frequently asked questions
Does overnight design mean a finished case the next morning?
Only if both parties have agreed the cutoff, time zone, complete inputs and outputs due. First delivery still needs the lab’s review before release.
Can a revision keep the same deadline?
Sometimes, but confirm it. A correction, changed instruction and new scan may require different work and an updated target.
Does Mocoore guarantee every case in a fixed number of hours?
Delivery is confirmed individually after scope and inputs are checked. Send the case type, software/version and desired deadline for a realistic proposal.
