Business phone system for dental laboratories

Dental laboratories in the United States

County Business Patterns counted 4,782 dental laboratories in the U.S. in 2023 (NAICS 339116, Dental Laboratories). They employed 42,188 people in mid-March and paid $2.3 billion in annual payroll. The average establishment has 8.8 employees. That is 1.4 establishments for every 100,000 residents.

California has the most (734), followed by Florida (424), New York (299), and Texas (277). Relative to population, Utah leads with 3.2 per 100,000 residents, and South Carolina has the fewest at 0.7.

Why the phone matters for dental laboratories

Dental labs work almost entirely for dental offices, and their calls center on case status checks, shade questions and delivery dates. Quick, accurate answers keep referring dentists loyal.

Calls dental laboratories commonly handle:

• A dental office calls to ask when a crown will be ready.
• A dentist calls to discuss a shade or design detail.
• A courier calls about a pickup.
• The lab calls an office about an impression that needs to be retaken.
• A new practice calls to ask about turnaround times.

Texting and after-hours calls

Labs text case-ready and pickup notices to dental offices.

After-hours calls are rare and usually routine, so voicemail with transcription is usually enough.

How big dental laboratories are

62.7% of U.S. dental laboratories with employees had fewer than five people in March 2023. 83.1% had fewer than ten. Most phone decisions in this industry are made for small teams, where one shared number and sensible routing matter more than a desk phone per person.

Dental laboratories by state

Establishment counts for the 50 states (and DC) where Census published a figure, with the rate per 100,000 residents.

Largest metro areas for dental laboratories

Census published dental laboratory counts for 274 metro and micropolitan areas. The 25 largest:

Callata vs. per-seat pricing for dental laboratories in the U.S.

The average U.S. dental laboratory has 8.8 employees, so the comparison uses a 9-person team. Per-seat business phone plans bill every one of those people. At month-to-month list prices checked September 28, 2026, 9 users on RingCentral RingEX Core cost $270.00 a month and 9 on Ooma Office Pro cost $224.55. On Callata the same 9 people cost $179.00 a month, less than either per-seat plan.

The annual difference against RingCentral's monthly list price comes to $1,092. Some vendors discount annual contracts; the table shows month-to-month prices.

How Callata works for dental laboratories

Callata is a business phone system priced at $99 a month with 5 users included, then $20 per additional user. Callata Office includes up to 3 local business numbers, unlimited inbound calling, 1,500 pooled outbound US and Canada minutes per user each month, a browser softphone that can also ring your cell, voicemail with transcription, call recording with AI summaries, business-hours routing and E911 on every number.

Existing numbers can be ported at no charge, and team texting turns on after the one-time $49 carrier registration (10DLC) is approved.

Optional AI agents (receptionist, sales, support or scheduler) can answer calls after hours or when nobody picks up, take messages, text, email and transfer to your team. They are billed from prepaid AI minutes at $0.25 per minute, identify themselves as AI, and may only place outbound calls to people who consented, between 8am and 9pm.