Terms & Conditions

Custom Made Dental Appliances
The following terms and conditions shall apply to all trading between Athena Dental Laboratory Ltd (‘Athena’), whose registered office is at 2 Craven Street, Northampton, NN1 3EZ, United Kingdom, and the dentist or laboratory or any other customer (‘client’) with regards to custom made dental appliances (‘dental appliance’, ‘work’, ‘product’) from Athena. The dental patient is not considered a party to the agreement between client and Athena.
Guarantee
All dental products created at Athena carry a full guarantee. This guarantee is your assurance that quality materials have been used during the manufacturing process and that our carefully designed production process has been followed.
Please see below our guarantee scheme:
Product Guarantee Guarantee period
Crowns and Bridges Yes 1 year
Veneers Yes 6 months
Removable prosthetics (acrylic) guarantee provided at discretion of Athena variable
If within the guarantee period the product proves defective in circumstances of normal use, a replacement will be provided free of charge by Athena. The guarantee does not cover any defect arising from incorrect prescription or fitting.
The guarantee becomes null and void if patient does not receive their annual dental check-up or in case of restoration failure due to oral health problems. Damage caused by physical trauma or impact (for instance due to high risk sports) is specifically excluded from our product guarantees.
We reserve the right to refuse a guarantee where we believe that the requested product may not last the guarantee period due to its particular circumstances. If instructed to continue with these cases, we will do so. However, in the event that the requested work fails, we will expect to be paid in full for the work supplied.
Product Liability – general
Appliances are constructed to the specification supplied by client. By fitting an appliance in the patient’s mouth, client accepts that Athena has produced the appliance to the specification and satisfaction of client.
Athena cannot guarantee any dental appliance which is based on a faulty model. If, when casting the models, Athena feels that the quality of the impression is not good enough to continue the work, Athena will inform client to discuss possible solutions. A new impression may be needed and – if so – remakes as a result of carrying on with the work by client, using the faulty impression, will result in new charges being applied.
Athena endeavours to interpret and follow client’s instructions correctly. If, however, a mistake is made, Athena will rectify the situation free of charge as quickly as production processes allow. Athena will not compensate dentist’s fees, consequential losses or expenses of any kind.
Client is responsible for any additional costs or charges incurred through changing instructions or delivery dates after the work has been accepted by Athena.
Athena is not liable for any choking hazard caused by any manufactured dental appliance, due to faulty prescription, poor fitting or misuse.
Product Liability – specific returns and remake policy
Client may return the work for a remake when the work does not meet the standard Athena has guaranteed to deliver. If this occurs, the work should be returned within 15 working days after the invoicing date. Client allows Athena 15 working days after receipt of the returned dental appliance, to remake the work. If – after remake – the quality of the work still does not meet the guaranteed standard, the work may be returned within 15 working days after the invoicing date for a refund which will be processed upon receipt of the returned work.
Any work returned for remake where the shade is different to the original order, will incur some cost. This extra cost will never exceed the total amount charged for the original order.
When returning work containing precious or semi-precious alloys, Athena will charge for 20 % of the original alloy cost incurred. (Please note that this is excluding the cost incurred due to loss of product during the manufacturing process.)
A dental appliance that fits the master model poured from the original impression supplied by client and which is created to the specifications on the prescription of client, but subsequently has to be remade, is not considered a remake.
Staged cases
When the end product of a case is built up using production / products in steps or stages, the fit is assessed immediately after each production stage. Consequently it is client’s responsibility to assess the fit of the separate products after each separate production stage, and not only at the time is the end product finished. Any remake requests done after acceptance of a product at any stage, cannot be considered a remake and will be charged for in full.
Each production stage / product will be billed separately. Each separate invoice should be paid in full for each stage, in accordance with our conditions for financial settlement as described above.
Alloy
Client will be charged for any loss of precious or semi-precious alloy during the production process, with a maximum of 25%. (Please note this is excluding the possible extra cost incurred in case of a remake).
Gold will be charged at its gross weight. Alloy is charged at the rate on the day of casting. Athena cannot give an estimation of the expected cost as this cannot be guaranteed.
Transport
Athena offers three types or transport for pick up and / or delivery of products, according to the following scheme:
Delivery Method Pick up or delivery method Special arrangement Charged Charging Rate Responsibility for damage or loss
Royal Mail First Class Signed for Delivery At the discretion of Athena No - Royal Mail and / or client (after signing the delivery receipt)
Royal Mail Special (signed for) Delivery (next day delivery before 1300 hrs) At the discretion of Athena or:
• when next day delivery is required;
• when product(s) are invoiced at £250.- or over;
• when product(s) contain(s) gold Yes £3.75 (price may vary depending on Royal Mail prices) Royal Mail and / or client (after signing the delivery receipt)
Athena driver Pick up or Delivery at Dental Practice At the discretion of Athena
No - Client (after accepting the delivery)
Client may indicate the type of delivery and Athena will endeavour to accommodate the delivery method of choice.
If Athena is responsible for the loss or damage of a product, this responsibility will not exceed to more than the actual value of the product.
In case of loss or damage by Royal Mail, client will allow for 15 working days after the product was sent out for delivery, before the work is remade. Another 15 working days should be allowed to remake the work.
Athena endeavours to deliver work on or before the delivery date specified by client. If, however, for any reason this has not been possible, Athena will not compensate dentist’s fees, consequential losses or expenses of any kind.
Financial Settlement
Statements are sent out to the client on a monthly basis. The Dental Practice, where the dentist issuing the prescription is hired, is held responsible for payment. However, Athena may hold the dentist, issuing the prescription, responsible for payment at its discretion.
All accounts must be settled within 15-30 days from date of statement. All work done or items supplied remain the property of Athena until payment is received.
Athena may charge interest on any account that becomes 60 days overdue at a rate of 2.5% per month which will be applied to the total amount outstanding, including any previous interest charged.
Any legal fees or other costs required to collect an unpaid balance may be charged to client. Accounts with balances unpaid for over 60 days will be processed only on a pay first basis.
Athena reserves the right to take legal steps – with prior notice – if client fails to settle his account within one month.
Both surgery and prescriber are held responsible for any amount outstanding in full regardless of any deduction on the prescriber’s remuneration by the surgery.
In the event that the prescriber has supplied some of the materials etc. for incorporation in a particular custom-made dental appliance, then this appliance cannot be guaranteed to fully meet with the applicable relevant essential requirements.