Carlow start-up Labiora has begun a live pilot of its online case platform for dental practices, laboratories and clinical dental technicians (CDTs). Seven organisations in Ireland and the UK are now using it on real patient cases, including Smile Dental Lab and its partnering Smile Dental practice.

Labiora gives each case one shared record that both the practice and the lab work from. The prescription, dental chart, STL scans, photos, messages, status updates, delivery details and invoices all sit on that record, with a full audit history of who did what and when. The aim is to replace the paper dockets, phone calls and scattered emails that still carry much of the practice–lab workflow.

Founder Jack Ralph comes from a dental family. His grandfather was a dental technician, and his father, Fintan, is a clinical dental technician who runs a lab and clinic in Carlow.

“I grew up around this work, and the problem has never been the dentistry. It’s everything around it: chasing a docket, ringing to check whether a case has shipped, working out which version of a prescription is the right one,” said Jack. “Labiora puts all of that on one record that the practice and the lab can both see, so nothing depends on someone’s memory or a piece of paper.”

In the UK, Smile Dental Lab and the Smile Dental practice are running cases between them on the platform from prescription through to delivery. In Ireland, the pilot group includes three CDT practices and two laboratories, several of which already refer work to each other. Before the pilot began, the system was tested on trial cases in a Carlow clinic to iron out workflow issues.

A free Lite plan lets labs and practices receive and collaborate on cases sent to them without paying. Organisations that create and send cases move onto a paid plan.

Labiora Limited has received a Feasibility Study Grant from LEO Carlow, and Jack is a participant in the New Frontiers programme at SETU Carlow. The platform was built with developer Muhammad Zil Rehman.

Labiora is inviting more practices and labs to try the platform, with hands-on onboarding from Jack. To find out more, visit labiora.eu or call Jack on +353 83 845 3129.

Tags: Labiora