Wow! Three decades in the dental lab
business — what’s
your secret, Bob?
I don’t think that it’s any secret, but if a
laboratory wants to succeed, it needs to stay
in front of the technology curve. For example,
in the ‘80s and ‘90s it was about the
artistry of 13 powder build-ups, modifying
opaque and stains and finessing crowns to
make them look like teeth. Today, automation
continues to simplify, streamline and
improve laboratory processes with a variety
of new material choices. As a result, crowns have
faster turnaround times with less labor and lower
production costs, thus giving the dentist a greater
value per product.
What are the most popular products dentists
are asking for today?
CAD/CAM milled monolithic materials like zirconium
and lithium disilicate continue to flourish,
driving the growth of all-ceramics and the decline of
PFMs. With that said, we still produce a lot of PFMs today.
What is your view on intra-oral scanners?
We have been accepting digital files from dentists across
the U.S. for the past five years. These scanners keep getting
better every year, and with lower pricing, they become more
affordable for the dental practice. There are numerous advantages
to digital impressions versus conventional. Dentists can
now have immediate feedback on their prep design without
fear of drags, pulls, bubbles, tears, distortion, etc. This results
in fewer remakes and adjustments, allowing labs to discount
their fees due to savings utilizing the digital work flow process.
This process allows us to manufacture restorations in a few
hours, making it available for a one-day crown service. The
majority of scans we receive today are from CEREC, iTero and
3M scanners, but any .stl file from another brand can also be
received in the lab. As we see more scanners utilized in dental
offices, the majority of work received in labs today are still traditional
impressions.
How do you see implants fitting into this digital
environment?
Today, implants are the fastest growing segment in the dental
industry even with conventional protocol. As the digital
software manufacturers offer system enhancements that makes
scanning, design and fabrication easier to use, this allows labs to
integrate the digital file into a simple environment to machine
custom implant abutments and crowns in a precise and efficient
manner. Now, for example, we can receive a digital scan of a 3i
Encode implant healing abutment and treat it like a standard
crown and bridge case. Then we can fabricate either a screwretained
or cemented custom abutment and crown complete
with that single scan. Overdentures are booming and with digital
technology it allows us to fabricate implant bars faster, easier
and more precise, rather that waxing and casting the
traditional way. It’s incredible what we can do today. Labs
should not fear or be intimidated with new technology. They
need to embrace it.
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