Dental Lab Products-2011-04-01

Someday chairside digital impressioning may be standard operating procedure and cases will go directly from the operatory to a lab’s computer, but until then, lab scanners will be the main gateway to digital workflows.

Information provided by 3Shape. Improving on existing functions and adding expanded capabilities, 3Shape’s Dental System™ 2012 software is designed to provide CAD/CAM solutions for new indications, help dental labs increase productivity and help dental labs help their dentists.

Information provided by NevinLabs. With a balanced, lightweight and compact body designed to reduce hand fatigue, the LabPro™ handpiece provides optimum comfort and increased efficiency even on delicate pieces of work requiring extended periods of time.

01 The NADL launched the Foundation for Dental Laboratory Technology in 2008. Can you tell us about the foundation and why it was created?

Effecting more than 40 million patients in the United States alone, edentulism has become a significant problem worldwide and has caused an increase in patients presenting with a broad range of functional and emotional ailments that add to the stress of losing their teeth.1,2

Boutique lab. I really dislike that moniker used by many to describe laboratories that deliver a more comprehensive end product than the norm.

There are few in the dental industry who appreciate the tension between hands-on and digital better than today’s lab technician. Certainly dentists and their teams are faced with integrating new technology into the front office and operatory, but by and large, the dentist doesn’t suffer from the “go digital or go obsolete” fears that plague many in the lab industry.

As removable prosthetic technologists/technicians, we know denture base resins have certain limitations to withstanding forces that may be incurred due to individual patient indication, (para-function, malocclusion, loss of opposing dentition, lack of regular intraoral maintenance).

We all have the need for marketing collateral materials designed to help present our business to prospective clients. Many laboratories have “starter kits” or “presentation pocket folders” while some laboratories have no materials to help them distinguish their laboratory services from the competition.

The Lab Konishi Dental Laboratory is based in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., staffs eight dental technicians and works with about 20 dentist clients. Owner Rob Konishi, CDT, describes the lab as a crown and bridge lab that mostly does porcelain and gold, some implants, some composites and a few pressables. Konishi opened the lab 35 years ago.