The only San Antonio Dentist with a full service lab.

Since 1986, Cosmetic Dental Associates has offered our clientele a truly unique approach to their dental needs by bringing together the latest in computer technologies and world class technicians. With more than 45 years combined laboratory experience, the art and science of spectacular, life-like restorations has been elevated to new levels. This is why CDA is able to design, craft and fully customize each restoration to every person’s unique situation while in the dental office.

The CDA dental lab consists of three lab technicians that work together to create beautiful teeth and smiles. The CDA lab team members are Karen who does the model work, Mingo who does the metal finishing and waxing and Susan who does the porcelain finishing.

“The most fulfilling part my job is creating a smile that the patients will enjoy forever and knowing their life will now be impacted because of my work,” said Mingo, CDA’s Lab Director.

Creating the teeth requires several careful steps and demands that all three lab members work together to make the teeth.

First, the dentist takes the impression of the teeth after prepping them. Then the impression goes to Karen, who pours stone into the impression, which will harden and become a duplicate of the patient’s mouth. Then, the stone mold goes to Mingo who uses the WaxRite machine to make a pattern of the tooth. The wax pattern is then put into a ring, which is filled with a plaster mold material. The wax is then melted out of the ring by putting it in to a burnout furnace. After the wax is burned out, melted metal is forced into the mold to create a super strong surgical grade frame. It is then covered with opaque porcelain and then sent to Susan who does the final steps. She meticulously applies porcelain to the opaque frame creating a beautiful natural sculpting of a tooth. This tooth then goes to one of our highly trained dentists, who uses it to give you a perfect smile.

Having our own full service dental lab is a part of our pride as premier San Antonio dentists and it is because of all this that CDA is able to consistently achieve beautiful lasting results for every individual patient in one or two visits.