The success of Labocast

On 26 February this year, the broadcasting of a report on dental prostheses during the French television programme Envoyé Spécial on France 2 would rouse debates. This report revealed the presence, in prostheses manufactured in China, of levels of lead dangerous for humans. While certain professionals have seen their activity affected since the broadcasting of the report, others, on the other hand, have succeeded in demonstrating that their prostheses present no risks. This is the case of Labocast, a Parisian company specialised in the manufacturing of dental prostheses, which carries out its production in subsidiaries in Hong Kong (China) and Antananarivo (Madagascar). Founded 21 years ago by Yves Scialom, Labocast offers three product ranges: Excellence, Confiance (Reliability) and Confort (Comfort).
The Excellence range, initiated in 1992, is produced in Hong Kong, and represents around 70% of Labocast’s activities. These high-quality prostheses meet all European (EC) requirements; metals and ceramics are supplied by Ivoclar Vivadent, a manufacturer of products for prosthesis laboratories based in Liechtenstein. This is the most comprehensive range, allowing treatment of all implantology and all-ceramic (no-metal) cases, as well as fixed and removable dental appliances.
The Confiance range, in existence since 1996, is produced in Antananarivo in a laboratory that conforms to ISO 9001 EN 2000 norms. Its prostheses are of standard quality, but come at much lower prices.
Finally, the Confort range, created in 1998, is produced by Labocast prosthesis experts in Paris. This range of services not only guarantees quality but also delivery times of a maximum of three days. All the same, the manufacturing laboratories do not function with two teams on shift work and do not work on Sundays, unlike in other industries. “The France 2 programme showed the case of a patient who fell ill due to lead in one of her prostheses… in the United States!” points out Grégory Scialom, Manager of Labocast. “This polemic was groundless, but we had to reassure dentists. We did so with LNE, the laboratory that works in partnership with AFNOR, by doing blind tests with our prosthesis. Results were unequivocal: the quantities of lead found in our prostheses were ten times lower than the authorised limit, that is to say, less lead than in a dining plate…”
Labocast has in fact upheld its security guarantees for some time: a declaration of conformity (relating to the European directive 93-42 of 14 June 1993) is delivered for each prosthesis. Modern Dental Laboratory, in Hong Kong, is one of the world’s largest laboratories (3,000 employees, including some 2,000 technicians) and conforms to the ISO 13 485 2003 norm, which is not the case of any laboratory in France. Labocast prostheses occasionally undergo checks from customs and the AFSSAPS (French Agency for the Sanitary Security of Health Products), and laboratories are subject to audits by companies such as TUV and BVQI, in order to confirm their conformity to various ISO norms. For each order, a practitioner traceability fiche and a patient traceability fiche are delivered. These detail the materials used, their origins, the ISO standard, lot numbers, and a declaration of conformity with norms and European directives concerning medical measures appears on the patient fiche. Such guarantees ensure the continuing success of Labocast, whose turnover has risen by 5% in the last quarter. “In France, imported prostheses only represent 5% of the total prosthesis market, as opposed to 20% in the United States or 25% in Germany, which shows that we have a fine margin for progress,” suggests Grégory Scialom.
The future also holds development projects for product security and quality materials. To carry out these projects, Labocast will make the most of its facilities including a monitoring system with its Prosthesis School in Madagascar, subsidiaries created with a team of prosthesis experts with the capacity to intervene in each manufacturing stage and 100% guarantors of raw materials, a liaison office that can monitor manufacturing as well as a directly integrated subsidiary in Shenzhen baptised Labocast China. The Labocast teams are exclusively made up of expatriate French prosthesis experts who monitor each stage of prosthesis manufacturing.

Information on www.labocast.com