Forty years of hand-crafted and digital dental work
A full-service dental laboratory in Formby, making dentures, crowns, bridges, implant restorations and splints for NHS and private dentists across the UK and Ireland.
- Established 1985
- DAMAS accredited
- Dental Laboratories Association member
- GDC-registered technicians
- Straumann Platinum Approved
- MHRA registration [confirm]
- Daily North West collection
What we make
Made at 40 Liverpool Road, Formby. Prescribe by lab card or through Labtrac Xchange.
Dentures
Acrylic (NHS and private), cobalt-chrome, Valplast flexible, digital, implant-retained, immediate. Repairs, relines and additions.
Dentures
Crown & bridge
Zirconia, E.max press, porcelain-fused-to-metal, Maryland bridges, veneers, inlays and onlays, post and cores, gold.
Crown & bridge
Implants
Abutments and superstructures from a single unit to a full arch. All-on-X same-day conversions with our CDTs at your chairside.
Implants
Splints & mouthguards
Essix retainers, fixed retainer wires, nightguards, sports gumshields, bleaching trays and bite-raising appliances.
Splints & mouthguardsOne lab, two directors, since 1985
Nigel Mansley and Ian Barker have run the laboratory together from the beginning. The team includes two Clinical Dental Technicians, which is why we can help with the awkward cases: difficult full dentures, full-arch implant conversions, and patients who need to be seen in person.
We invested in digital early. Intraoral scans, CAD/CAM zirconia and 3D-printed dentures sit alongside the pressing furnace and the casting room. Use whichever workflow suits the case.
What dentists say
A supportive partner, not just a supplier. They keep investing in the digital workflow and the CDT support network makes complex cases far easier.Dr Coventry, dentist
Quality, precision and reliability across crowns, bridges, veneers and dentures. I recommend them to other clinicians without hesitation.Dr Chaudry, dentist
I have worked with the lab for many years and the work has consistently exceeded my expectations.Dr Ahmed, dentist
Summarised from reviews given to the laboratory; full wording available on request.
Get in touch
40 Liverpool Road, Formby, Liverpool L37 6BZ
Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:30
New to the lab? Request a price list or open an account on the For dentists page. Patients looking for dentures can book a free consultation at The Denture Studios.
Dentures
Complete and partial dentures in every material you are likely to prescribe, made by technicians who have done little else for decades. Two Clinical Dental Technicians are on hand for the cases that need a second opinion or a chairside visit.
What we need from you
A prosthetics lab card with the material, shade, mould and any notes on the patient. Impressions, bites and try-ins travel on our daily collection round in the North West, or by free post from elsewhere. Alternatively send an intraoral scan through Labtrac Xchange for a digital denture.
Acrylic dentures
Full and partial acrylic dentures for NHS and private patients. Private work is set up with premium teeth, individual tooth positioning and gingival characterisation; NHS work meets the band requirements without shortcuts. Acetal clasps are available where a tooth-coloured clasp is preferred to wrought wire.
Cobalt-chrome dentures
Cast cobalt-chrome frameworks for partial dentures, designed from your prescription. Use the chrome design sheet to mark clasps, rests and connector preferences, or leave design to us and we will send the proposed framework for approval.
Valplast flexible dentures
Metal-free, lightweight and biocompatible, Valplast suits patients with an acrylic allergy, prominent bone or undercuts that a rigid base cannot engage. We also make Valplast gum veneers, bruxism appliances and implant-retained overdentures.
Give your patients the care sheet: Flexible denture patient care instructions (PDF)
Digital dentures
Send an intraoral scan and we design the denture in CAD and 3D-print or mill it. Fewer visits for the patient, a record on file so a replacement or spare can be made without new impressions, and the same tooth and shade choices as a conventional denture.
Implant-retained dentures and All-on-X
Locator and bar-retained overdentures, and fixed full-arch All-on-4 and All-on-X bridges. For same-day cases a CDT can attend the surgery to convert the denture to a fixed bridge chairside. Details on the implants page.
Immediate dentures
Made before extraction so the patient leaves the surgery with teeth. Tell us which teeth are to be extracted on the lab card and whether you want the socket areas relieved. A reline or rebase is usually needed once healing has settled; see below.
Repairs, relines, rebases and additions
Fractures, added teeth and clasps, soft and hard relines and full rebases. Repairs are prioritised so that the patient is without their denture for as little time as possible. Use the repair and addition card so we know exactly what to do.
Denture teeth and shade matching
We stock a range of denture teeth including Enigmalife. Specify mould and shade on the card, or send the patient to the lab for a custom shade match and gingival characterisation where the case justifies it.
Crown and bridge
Pressed, milled and cast restorations made in-house. Pick the material by the clinical situation; the cement guide at the bottom of the page tells you what to seat it with.
Sending a crown and bridge case
Use the crown and bridge lab card for the shade, material, margin and occlusal notes. Conventional impressions come on the collection round; digital impressions from any major intraoral scanner can be sent straight to us through Labtrac Xchange.
Zirconia
Metal-free crowns and bridges designed and milled on our CAD/CAM system. Monolithic for strength in the posterior, or cut back and layered for translucency at the front. Suited to patients with metal sensitivities and to long-span bridges where a PFM would once have been the only option.
E.max press
Lithium disilicate pressed in-house. We make E.max crowns, anterior bridges up to three units, veneers, inlays and onlays, and single-tooth implant substructures. Good translucency, a conservative preparation and a bonded fit make it our usual recommendation for anterior single units.
Porcelain-fused-to-metal and bonded crowns
Conventional bonded crowns and bridges using IPS Inline porcelain over a cast substructure. Still the workhorse for long-span posterior bridges and for patients whose occlusion is hard on ceramics. Available on precious, semi-precious and non-precious alloys.
Maryland bridges
Resin-bonded bridges with a metal or zirconia wing for replacing a single anterior tooth with minimal preparation. Tell us the wing design you want and whether the abutment has been prepared for a rest seat.
Porcelain veneers
Pressed E.max or layered feldspathic veneers for smile makeovers and single-tooth corrections. Send photographs with the shade and any stump shades; a diagnostic wax-up is available first if the patient wants to see the plan.
Inlays, onlays, post and cores
Inlays and onlays in E.max, zirconia, gold or composite. Cast post and cores in precious or non-precious alloy, made to the canal preparation you send.
Gold and alloy restorations
Full gold shell crowns, inlays and onlays cast in Argen alloys: 24-carat bonded gold, high palladium, and precious, semi-precious and non-precious options. Specify the alloy on the lab card or ask us to choose for the case.
Composite restorations
Indirect composite crowns, inlays, onlays and veneers in Ivoclar Nexco. Kinder to the opposing dentition than ceramic, repairable in the mouth, and a sensible choice for provisional and implant-protected restorations.
Cement guide
The cements the manufacturers recommend for the materials we use. Always follow the instructions for the specific product you have in surgery.
| Restoration | Recommended cement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| E.max veneers | Variolink Veneer or Variolink II | As recommended in the E.max guide |
| E.max crowns, inlays, onlays, bridges | Multilink Automix, SpeedCEM or VivaglassCEM | Ivoclar recommendations for the IPS e.max press system |
| Bonded crowns and bridges (IPS Inline) | SpeedCEM for conventional cementation; Multilink Automix for adhesive | Ivoclar recommendation |
| Other restorations | [to be completed by the technical director] | Zirconia, Maryland bridges, gold and composite guidance to follow |
Product names are those we currently recommend; equivalents from other manufacturers can be used.
Implant restorations
From a single screw-retained crown to a full-arch fixed bridge, with a Clinical Dental Technician at your chairside when the case is converted on the day.
Abutments and superstructures
Custom titanium and zirconia abutments, screw-retained and cement-retained crowns, implant bridges, bars and locator overdentures. We work with the major UK implant systems and are a Straumann Platinum Approved Dental Laboratory.
Send the implant lab card with the system, platform and connection, and whether the restoration is to be screw- or cement-retained. Scan bodies or impression copings come on the collection round.
Systems we restore: Straumann and [Implant systems list].
All-on-X: teeth in a day
For same-day full-arch cases one of our Clinical Dental Technicians comes to the practice. While the surgeon places the implants, the CDT converts the pre-made denture to a fixed provisional bridge chairside, so the patient leaves with fixed teeth that day. The definitive restoration follows once the implants have integrated.
We have done this many times with surgeons across the North West and it is the part of the job the CDTs enjoy most.
Treatment planning support
If you are planning an implant case and want a second opinion on the prosthetic end of it, ring the lab and ask for Ian, Kev or Chris. They will talk through the restorative space, the retention type and what to send us at each stage.
Splints, retainers and mouthguards
Hand-finished appliances that fit first time. Send models or a scan with the prosthetics lab card.
Essix retainers
Clear vacuum-formed retainers for post-orthodontic retention. Tell us whether the patient needs full or partial coverage.
Fixed retainer wires
Bonded lingual wires made to the model for lower and upper anteriors.
Nightguards and bruxism splints
Soft, hard and hard-soft occlusal splints, including Michigan-type stabilisation splints.
Sports gumshields
Laminated sports guards in single colours, club colours and patterns. Colour catalogue (PDF)
Bleaching trays
Reservoir or non-reservoir trays, scalloped or straight, for home whitening.
Bite-raising appliances
Anterior and full-coverage bite-raising appliances to your prescription.
For dentists
Everything you need to send work to the lab: the cards, the collection round, how to track a case and how to open an account.
How to send a case
Write the prescription
Fill in the lab card for the type of work, or raise the case in Labtrac Xchange. Include shade, material, return date and any special instructions.
Collection or free post
In the North West our driver collects daily from your practice. Elsewhere in the UK and Ireland use our free-post labels.
Track it in Labtrac Xchange
You can see the case booked in, its stage in the lab and the due date. Questions go to the technician working on it.
Delivery
Finished work is delivered on the round or posted back, with a statement of manufacture for every custom-made device.
What is Labtrac Xchange?
Labtrac Xchange is the online case-management system we use. Once your practice has an account you can raise prescriptions, upload intraoral scans and photographs, see where each case is in the lab, check due dates and view your invoices, without ringing us. Existing paper lab cards still work; Xchange just gives you a window into the same system.
Ask for Xchange access when you open an account, or email office@ultimate-lab.co.uk.
Collection and delivery
Daily collection and delivery rounds across the North West [confirm areas covered]. Tell us your usual collection time and we will build it into the round.
Practices elsewhere in the UK and Ireland send work with our free-post labels. Print them from the downloads below; the postage is paid.
Turnaround times
Working days in the lab, from the day we book the case in to the day it leaves. Collection and post are on top. Tell us on the card if you need a case sooner and we will say whether we can do it.
| Work | Turnaround | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Acrylic denture, each stage | [5 working days] | [notes] |
| Chrome denture framework | [7 working days] | [notes] |
| Valplast flexible denture | [7 working days] | [notes] |
| Digital denture | [5 working days] | [notes] |
| Denture repair or addition | [same day / 24 hours] | [notes] |
| Reline or rebase | [2 working days] | [notes] |
| Zirconia crown or bridge | [7 working days] | [notes] |
| E.max crown, veneer, inlay or onlay | [7 working days] | [notes] |
| PFM crown or bridge | [7 working days] | [notes] |
| Gold crown, inlay, post and core | [7 working days] | [notes] |
| Implant crown or abutment | [10 working days] | [notes] |
| Full-arch implant bridge | [agreed per case] | [notes] |
| Essix retainer, bleaching tray | [3 working days] | [notes] |
| Nightguard or splint | [5 working days] | [notes] |
| Sports gumshield | [5 working days] | [notes] |
Figures in brackets are placeholders to be confirmed by the laboratory.
Downloads
Lab cards and forms. Print, fill in and send with the case.
- Prosthetics lab cardDentures, relines, splints and retainers (PDF)
- Crown and bridge lab cardCrowns, bridges, veneers, inlays (PDF)
- Implant lab cardsAbutments, implant crowns and bridges (PDF)
- Repair and addition cardsDenture repairs, additions, relines (PDF)
- Chrome design sheetMark clasps, rests and connectors (PDF)
- Patient referral formRefer a patient to our CDTs (PDF)
- Free-post labelsFor practices outside the collection round (PDF)
- Infection control policyLaboratory decontamination policy (Word document)
- E.max guidePreparation and cementation (PDF)
Also useful: Enigmalife mould chart, flexible denture care instructions and the gumshield colour catalogue.
Request a price list
We will email the current NHS and private price list to your practice.
Open an account
Tell us about the practice and we will set up collections, Labtrac Xchange access and your first batch of lab cards.
The Denture Studios
Our clinics for patients. Dentures designed, made and fitted by the same Clinical Dental Technicians who make them, at three sites in the North West and Cumbria.
What is a Clinical Dental Technician?
A Clinical Dental Technician (CDT) is a dental technician with extra clinical training who is registered with the General Dental Council to see patients directly. A CDT can take impressions, make and fit full dentures without a referral, and make partial dentures and implant-retained dentures only on a dentist's prescription after a dental examination.
Because the person fitting your denture is the person who made it, changes to the shape, shade and bite are done on the spot, not sent away.
What to expect
Free consultation
Come in with your current dentures, if you have them. We look at your mouth, talk through what you would like to change and explain the options. There is no charge and no obligation.
A quote and a plan
You leave the consultation with a written quote and a treatment plan: how many visits, what happens at each, and when the dentures will be ready.
Fitting and aftercare
We fit the dentures, adjust them and check them at a review visit. Every fitting includes a check of the soft tissues of your mouth, and we will refer you to a dentist if anything needs looking at.
Relines and repairs
If your existing dentures have become loose, a reline can often make them fit again without starting from scratch. Broken dentures and lost teeth can usually be repaired quickly; ring your nearest clinic and we will tell you how soon.
Our clinics
Blackpool
83 Whitegate DriveBlackpool FY3 9DA 01253 396900
- Open
- Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 9:00 to 16:00
Milnthorpe
Old Hall, Beetham RoadMilnthorpe, Cumbria LA7 7QR 01539 564770
- Open
- Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 16:00
Book a free consultation
Fill in the form and we will ring you to arrange a time, or call the clinic nearest to you.
Dentists: to refer a patient to our CDTs, use the patient referral form (PDF).
About the laboratory
A family-run lab in Formby that has made dental work for the same practices, in some cases, for four decades.
Since 1985
Nigel Mansley opened the laboratory in 1985 with Ian Barker alongside him. Nigel is Managing Director and Ian is Technical Director, and both still work in the lab every day. The business was incorporated as The Ultimate Dental Laboratory Ltd in 2004 and remains independently owned.
The next generation is in the building too: Sebastian Mansley is a technician and Alex Mansley looks after practices and sales. Around twenty people work here, including two Clinical Dental Technicians who run The Denture Studios clinics.
- 1985
Laboratory opened in Formby by Nigel Mansley and Ian Barker.
- 2004
Incorporated as The Ultimate Dental Laboratory Ltd.
- [year]
CAD/CAM, intraoral scanning and 3D printing added alongside the conventional benches. [Years digital workflow in use]
- Today
Around twenty staff, two CDTs, three Denture Studios clinics, daily collection across the North West.
What our credentials mean for you
DAMAS accredited
The Dental Appliance Manufacturers Audit Scheme is an independent quality-management audit for dental labs. It checks that materials are traceable, processes are documented and every device has a record. [DAMAS certificate number]
MHRA registration [confirm registration number]
Dentures, crowns and splints are custom-made medical devices. Being registered with the MHRA means each one is made under a documented system and comes with a statement of manufacture.
GDC-registered technicians
Our dental technicians and Clinical Dental Technicians are registered with the General Dental Council, so they are bound by its standards and continuing-education requirements.
Dental Laboratories Association member
The DLA is the UK trade body for dental laboratories. Membership keeps us current on regulation, materials and good practice. [DLA membership number]
Straumann Platinum Approved
Straumann's highest laboratory tier, which means we use genuine components and have the training and volume to restore their implant systems reliably.
Fully equipped Kavo laboratory
Benches, handpieces and equipment from Kavo throughout, with a pressing furnace, casting room, CAD/CAM milling and 3D printing on site.
Digital and by hand
We accept intraoral scans [confirm scanner systems]. Zirconia is designed with CAD/CAM; dentures can be designed digitally and 3D printed; E.max is pressed in-house, and chrome frameworks are cast. We use whichever method gives the better result for the case, and tell you which one we have used.
Gallery
Captions are being confirmed with the laboratory. [Gallery captions to verify]
Work from the benches at Formby.
Contact
Ring during lab hours, email, or use the form. Technical questions about a case go to the technical address.
40 Liverpool Road
Formby, Liverpool L37 6BZ
- Phone
- 01704 878644
- Office
- office@ultimate-lab.co.uk
- Technical
- technical@ultimate-lab.co.uk
- Hours
- Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:30
Privacy and cookies
How we use personal information, in plain English. Last reviewed [Date of last review].
Who we are
The Ultimate Dental Laboratory Ltd (company number 05106447) is a dental laboratory at 40 Liverpool Road, Formby, Liverpool L37 6BZ. We also run The Denture Studios clinics in Formby, Blackpool and Milnthorpe. We are the data controller for the information described here. Our ICO registration number is [ICO registration number]. Questions about this notice go to [Privacy contact name] at office@ultimate-lab.co.uk or 01704 878644.
Information about dentists and practices
If you are a dentist or work in a practice that sends us cases, we hold your name, practice address, phone number, email, GDC number, account and invoicing details, and the prescriptions you send. We use this to make the work you order, deliver and invoice it, meet our obligations as a manufacturer of custom-made devices, and tell you about changes to the service. The lawful basis is performance of a contract with you, and legal obligation for the manufacturing records.
Information about patients
When a dentist sends us a case we receive the patient's name, sometimes their date of birth, and clinical information needed to make the device, such as impressions, scans, photographs and shade. We use it only to make the device and to keep the manufacturing record required by the Medical Devices Regulations 2002. The lawful basis is legal obligation and, for the health data, the provision of health care under Article 9(2)(h) UK GDPR. We do not contact patients about cases sent by their dentist.
If you are a patient of The Denture Studios we hold your contact details, medical history, clinical notes, photographs and treatment records, which we need to treat you safely. The lawful basis is the provision of health care and, where you have agreed a treatment plan, performance of a contract. We will tell you if we need to share information with your dentist, and ask first unless the law requires it.
Website enquiries
The forms on this site open an email in your own mail program; nothing is stored on this website. The email you send is kept in our mailbox so that we can reply, and deleted when it is no longer needed. The lawful basis is our legitimate interest in responding to enquiries.
Who we share information with
Labtrac Xchange, our case-management system, processes case and practice data on our behalf. Our accountants and IT support may see data in the course of their work and are under contract to keep it confidential. We do not sell personal information or share it for marketing. Information is kept in the UK or, where a supplier is elsewhere, under safeguards recognised by UK law.
How long we keep it
- Manufacturing records for custom-made devices: [retention period to confirm: UK MDR 2002 requires at least 5 years, 15 years for implant work].
- Patient clinical records at The Denture Studios: at least 10 years from the last treatment, in line with dental record-keeping guidance.
- Practice account and invoicing records: 6 years after the end of the financial year, for tax purposes.
- Website and email enquiries that do not lead to work: deleted within 12 months.
Your rights
You can ask for a copy of the information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, ask us to delete it where we no longer need to keep it, object to or restrict how we use it, and ask for it in a portable format. Email or write to us and we will respond within one month. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Cookies
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Changes
We will update this page if anything changes and show the date of the last review at the top.
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