Terms & Conditions

These Laboratory Services Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) govern laboratory services provided by Liberty Orthodontic Laboratory (“Liberty”) to dentists, dental practices, and other legally authorized professional clients (“Client”).

These Terms apply to laboratory services and are separate from Liberty's website-use Legal Policy and Privacy Policy.

1. Professional Use Only

Liberty Orthodontic Laboratory provides laboratory fabrication services to licensed dental professionals and dental practices. Liberty does not provide dental diagnosis, treatment planning, intraoral treatment, appliance delivery, or other clinical dental services directly to patients.

Orders for orthodontic and dental appliances must be submitted pursuant to a valid prescription, work authorization, or other documentation from a licensed dentist as required by applicable law.

Liberty does not accept direct-to-patient orders.

2. Acceptance of Terms

A Client agrees to these Terms by affirmatively accepting them through an account-registration form, electronic acceptance checkbox, signed account application, or another written or electronic method provided by Liberty.

A person accepting these Terms on behalf of a dental practice or other entity represents that he or she is authorized to bind that entity.

Electronic records, signatures, and acceptance may be used to the extent permitted by applicable law.

Orders submitted after acceptance are subject to these Terms and any applicable written pricing, case-specific instructions, or separate agreements between Liberty and the Client.

3. Prescriptions and Required Case Information

The prescribing dentist is responsible for providing a complete and legally compliant prescription or work authorization for each case.

When required by applicable law, the prescription must include:

• The date of the prescription.

• The prescribing dentist's signature or legally valid electronic signature.

• The dentist's license number.

• The patient's name or other patient identifier sufficient to identify the case.

• A clear description of the appliance or laboratory work requested.

• Specifications regarding materials where required.

Liberty may place a case on hold or decline fabrication if required information, records, prescriptions, impressions, models, or digital scans are incomplete, unclear, inconsistent, or unsuitable for fabrication.

The Client is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all information and instructions submitted to Liberty.

4. Prescription and Laboratory Record Retention

Liberty will maintain the original or legally acceptable electronic copy of dental laboratory prescriptions for the period required by applicable law.

Florida prescriptions are retained by the laboratory for at least four years from the date of the prescription when required by Florida law.

The prescribing dentist is responsible for maintaining the dentist's required copy and complying with applicable patient-record and prescription-retention requirements.

5. Materials and Manufacturing Disclosures

Liberty will provide material, certificate-of-authenticity, manufacturing-origin, and laboratory-identification information when required by applicable law.

The Client is responsible for reviewing such information and notifying Liberty promptly of any suspected discrepancy.

6. Clinical Responsibility

Liberty fabricates appliances according to the prescription, scans, impressions, models, records, designs, and instructions supplied or approved by the prescribing dental professional.

The prescribing dentist retains responsibility for:

• Patient examination and diagnosis.

• Required diagnostic imaging.

• Treatment planning.

• Determining whether an appliance is clinically appropriate.

• Selecting and approving the appliance design and prescribed treatment.

• Reviewing the accuracy and suitability of records submitted to Liberty.

• Clinical delivery, seating, adjustment, and modification of the appliance.

• Monitoring the patient and treatment progress.

• Determining whether continued use of an appliance is appropriate.

• Compliance with professional licensing and patient-care requirements applicable to the dentist.

Liberty's case-related communications, technical observations, or fabrication suggestions do not constitute diagnosis or treatment planning and do not replace the prescribing dentist's independent clinical judgment.

7. Case Records and Fabrication Quality

The Client is responsible for supplying accurate and current case records of sufficient quality for fabrication.

This includes, as applicable:

• Digital scans.

• Physical impressions.

• Models.

• Bite registrations.

• Prescriptions.

• Design instructions.

• Supporting photographs or records requested for the appliance.

Liberty may request corrected or additional records when reasonably necessary to fabricate the prescribed appliance.

Turnaround time may be affected until all required and acceptable records are received.

8. Pricing and Statements

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, cases will be billed according to Liberty's applicable pricing in effect when the case is accepted for fabrication.

Monthly statements are issued within the last week of each month and detail laboratory services, products, shipping, rush fees, and other applicable charges for the billing period.

Payment is due by the 15th day of the month following the statement date.

Liberty may change prices prospectively. Price changes will be communicated to Clients before implementation and will not apply retroactively to cases already accepted.

9. Late Payments

Accounts remaining unpaid after the applicable payment due date will be assessed a one-time late charge equal to the lesser of 5% of the unpaid invoice balance.

A late charge will be assessed no more than once on the same invoice and will not recur, compound, or accrue monthly while that invoice remains unpaid.

Liberty reserves the right to modify payment terms, require advance payment, place an account on hold, or suspend services when an account becomes delinquent.

10. Delinquent Accounts and Collections

An account remaining unpaid more than 30 days after the applicable payment due date may be suspended from placing new orders.

An account remaining unpaid more than 60 days after the applicable payment due date may be referred for collection.

The Client will be responsible, to the extent permitted by applicable law, for reasonable third-party collection costs actually incurred by Liberty in collecting a delinquent account, including reasonable collection-agency fees and court costs.

Liberty does not impose an automatic percentage-based collection fee solely because an account is referred for collection.

Before a suspended account is reinstated, Liberty may require payment of all past-due amounts and applicable collection costs and may establish revised payment terms, including prepayment requirements.

11. Payment Methods and Credit-Card Surcharges

Liberty may accept payment through payment methods made available to the Client.

Where permitted by applicable law, payment-processor requirements, and applicable card-network rules, Liberty may impose a surcharge of up to 3% on all credit-card transactions.

Any applicable surcharge will:

• Be disclosed before the Client authorizes payment.

• Not exceed the applicable legal or card-network limit.

• Not exceed Liberty's permitted cost-based limit where required.

• Be separately identified where required.

• Not be applied to debit or prepaid card transactions where prohibited by applicable card-network rules or law.

Liberty may modify or discontinue credit-card surcharges when required by law, payment processors, acquiring banks, or card-network rules.

12. Billing Questions and Disputes

Clients should report questions or disputes concerning laboratory charges within 7 calendar days of the applicable statement date so that Liberty can investigate the matter promptly.

The Client should identify the applicable patient/case identifier, invoice or case number, charge being disputed, and reason for the dispute.

A billing dispute does not automatically suspend payment obligations for unrelated, undisputed charges.

13. Changes and Cancellations

Changes and cancellations should be submitted as soon as possible.

If a case is canceled before fabrication has begun, no laboratory fabrication fee will be charged, although the Client may remain responsible for nonrecoverable materials, shipping, or third-party costs already incurred specifically for that case.

If a case is changed or canceled after fabrication has begun, Liberty may charge for labor, materials, and work already performed, up to the full applicable laboratory fee.

A material change to the prescription, appliance design, or treatment plan after fabrication has been completed may be treated as a new case or a full-charge remake.

14. Turnaround Times

Published, quoted, or estimated turnaround times are estimates and are not guarantees unless Liberty expressly agrees otherwise in writing.

Laboratory turnaround begins after Liberty receives the information and acceptable case records required to fabricate the appliance.

Turnaround may be extended by:

• Incomplete or unsuitable records.

• Prescription clarification.

• Client-requested design changes.

• Requests for corrected scans, impressions, or models.

• Material availability.

• Shipping-carrier delays.

• Events outside Liberty's reasonable control.

Rush services are subject to availability and require approval by the lab

15. Warranty

Liberty stands behind the materials and workmanship of the appliances it manufactures.

An appliance with a confirmed defect caused by Liberty's materials or laboratory workmanship will be repaired or remade at no laboratory fabrication charge when the issue is reported within 90 days of the original invoice date.

The original appliance and models must be return to the lab for investigation and approval of warranty coverage. ( Regular charges apply to warranty claims when appliance is not returned )

Warranty coverage applies only to defects attributable to Liberty's fabrication.

16. Fit Issues

Fit-related concerns must be reported within 30 days of the original invoice date.

Liberty will evaluate the appliance and case records to determine the apparent cause of the fit issue.

If Liberty determines that the fit problem resulted from Liberty's fabrication, Liberty will adjust or remake the appliance at no laboratory fabrication charge.

Fit issues first reported after 30 days are not covered by the fit warranty and may be charged at the applicable laboratory rate.

17. Full-Charge Remakes

A remake, replacement, repair, or new appliance may be charged at the applicable laboratory rate when it is required because of circumstances not attributable to a Liberty fabrication defect, including:

• A lost or misplaced appliance.

• Patient damage, misuse, neglect, or improper handling.

• Inaccurate, incomplete, distorted, or outdated impressions.

• Inaccurate, incomplete, distorted, or outdated physical models.

• Inaccurate, incomplete, distorted, or outdated digital scans.

• Incorrect or incomplete prescriptions or instructions submitted by the dental office.

• A change to the original appliance design after fabrication.

• A change to the prescription after fabrication.

• A change in the patient's treatment plan.

• Tooth movement or other changes in the patient's dentition after the original impression or scan.

• Inadequate or materially changed case records.

• Repairs, adjustments, or modifications performed by the dental office, patient, another laboratory, or another third party that caused or contributed to the failure or fit concern.

18. No-Guarantee Cases

If Liberty identifies an impression, scan, model, prescription, bite registration, or other case record as incomplete, inaccurate, questionable, or unsuitable for the prescribed fabrication, Liberty may request corrected records before proceeding.

If the dental office instructs Liberty to proceed without providing the requested corrected records, Liberty may document the identified concern and the Client's authorization to proceed.

The case may then be designated a No-Guarantee Case with respect to the identified condition.

A remake resulting from that specifically identified condition will be charged at the applicable laboratory rate.

A No-Guarantee designation does not eliminate warranty coverage for an unrelated defect that Liberty determines was caused by its own materials or fabrication.

19. Warranty & Remakes

All warranty and remake requests are subject to evaluation by Liberty.

The Client must provide the applicable case or invoice number when requesting warranty consideration.

The original appliance must be returned for evaluation by our lab.

Physical models are required to avoid getting charge for new ones.

Liberty may request a new impression, scan, model, photograph, or other record when reasonably necessary to evaluate the cause of a fit or fabrication concern.

Warranty approval will be based on the information reasonably available to Liberty during its evaluation.

20. Warranty Period

Liberty's laboratory warranty expires 90 days after the original invoice date.

Requests submitted after the applicable warranty period may still be eligible for repair, adjustment, or remake but will be charged at the applicable laboratory rate.

21. Shipping and Rush Services

Applicable shipping and rush-service charges are the Client's responsibility.

Shipping and rush-service fees associated with a remake are also the Client's responsibility unless Liberty determines otherwise as part of an approved warranty claim.

The Client is responsible for maintaining accurate shipping and contact information.

Liberty is not responsible for shipping-carrier delays or other delivery events outside Liberty's reasonable control, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

22. Patient Information and Privacy

The Client is responsible for having lawful authority to provide patient information reasonably necessary for Liberty to perform laboratory services.

Clients should transmit patient information only through Liberty-approved case-submission systems or other authorized secure methods and should avoid including unnecessary patient information.

Liberty will maintain reasonable safeguards for electronic personal information as required by applicable law.

Clients should not submit protected patient information through general website contact forms or other channels that Liberty has not approved for case information.

Where Liberty and a Client are required to enter into a Business Associate Agreement under HIPAA or other applicable law, the Business Associate Agreement will separately govern the use, disclosure, safeguarding, and handling of protected health information. If a conflict exists between these Terms and an applicable Business Associate Agreement concerning protected health information, the Business Associate Agreement controls with respect to that information.

Liberty's Privacy Policy provides additional information concerning privacy practices.

23. SMS Terms of Service

SMS participation is optional and is separate from acceptance of these Laboratory Services Terms.

By voluntarily providing a mobile telephone number through an approved SMS opt-in method and affirmatively consenting to receive text messages from Liberty, the recipient authorizes Liberty to send SMS communications to that number.

Messages may include:

• Case and order updates.

• Account and service notifications.

• Laboratory-related communications.

• Customer-care messages.

Message frequency may vary.

Message and data rates may apply according to the recipient's wireless carrier and service plan.

Consent to receive SMS messages is not a condition of purchasing goods or laboratory services from Liberty.

Reply HELP for assistance.

Reply STOP to opt out of SMS communications. After a STOP request, Liberty may send a confirmation message acknowledging the opt-out. Additional SMS messages will not be sent unless the recipient subsequently opts in again, except where otherwise permitted or required by applicable law.

Mobile carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

Information concerning Liberty's collection, use, and protection of personal information is available in Liberty's Privacy Policy.

24. Changes to These Terms

Liberty may revise these Terms prospectively to reflect changes in services, business practices, pricing policies, applicable law, or regulatory requirements.

Material changes will be communicated through an appropriate method, which may include email, an account notice, or another conspicuous electronic notice.

Revised Terms will apply to new orders submitted on or after the stated effective date unless otherwise required by law or agreed in writing.

Where applicable law requires additional affirmative consent to a change, Liberty will obtain that consent.

25. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms and laboratory services provided under them will be governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except to the extent that applicable nonwaivable law requires otherwise.

To the extent legally enforceable, any court action arising out of or relating to these Terms or Liberty's laboratory services shall be brought in the appropriate state court located in Broward County, Florida, or, where federal jurisdiction exists, in the appropriate United States District Court serving Broward County.

The parties consent to personal jurisdiction and venue in those courts, subject to applicable law.

26. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is determined to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent legally permissible or severed as appropriate, and the remaining provisions will remain in effect.

27. No Waiver

Liberty's failure to enforce a provision of these Terms on one occasion does not constitute a waiver of that provision or Liberty's right to enforce it in the future.

Any waiver must be expressly authorized by Liberty.

28. Entire Agreement and Related Documents

These Terms, together with applicable written account terms, accepted case prescriptions or work authorizations, written quotations, applicable pricing, and any required Business Associate Agreement, constitute the applicable agreement concerning Liberty's laboratory services.

A case-specific written agreement signed or expressly accepted by Liberty may modify these Terms for that particular case.

An applicable Business Associate Agreement controls in the event of a conflict concerning protected health information.

29. Contact

Questions regarding these Terms, billing, warranty requests, or laboratory services may be directed to Liberty Orthodontic Laboratory using the contact information provided.