Dental laboratory work authorization forms: a national survey of regulatory agency requirements.

This study reports a survey of the dental licensing agencies in the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico concerning agency legislation and nomenclature of dental laboratory work orders. Differences in both legislation and nomenclature were found. Dental laboratory work authorization was the title most frequently used by the agencies. Nearly all agencies require a work order written by a licensed dentist to accompany all materials transmitted to a dental laboratory. This along with other sources of information may help to increase uniformity in the content of laboratory work authorization forms, thereby improving quality control in dental restorations made in commercial laboratories.