Dental Lab Products-2011-10-01

CAD/CAM has become a way of life for some technicians and dental labs, but even labs with little to no CAD/CAM investment have felt the impact from the technology and the material and restoration options it’s made available. Numerous outsource options and workflows are available, ranging from sending a model to be scanned, designed and milled by an outsource partner, to investing in a scanner for in-house design, to buying into a complete system with on-site milling. It comes down to each lab finding what level of integration fits best.

Its technological core has been left in tact, but several enhancements to Renfert USA’s line of Basic sandblasters, such as PerfectView, provide a larger and clearer view of the working area. Focused blasting prevents sand from shooting past the object and instead targets it with more grains per surface area in the effective range.

Lava™ Design Software 7 from 3M ESPE offers a new and powerful software platform that delivers greater design flexibility, customization capability and “best in class” functionality. Lava Design 7 offers a full range of indications and exciting new features including parallel scan and design, rescan, opposing arch and full arch scanning. Additionally, an integrated file transferring system makes data transfer within the Lava™ Network simple.

Dental laboratories are currently witnessing a strong increase in demand for dental implant abutments. Dentists are performing implant procedures at an increasing rate, substantially driving the request for stock and custom abutments. On average, U.S. dental labs currently produce about 30 implant abutments each month, half of which are custom abutments. Of the implant cases handled by the dental labs, 75% are single unit cases and 15% are implant-supported bridges.

The rising demand for elective and implant-based dental treatments has led to a direct increase in the use of temporary restorations.1 Properly fitted and reliable, patients benefit from the utility and esthetics that provisional materials offer.1 Further, dentists rely on provisionals to prevent deterioration of hard and soft tissues of the oral cavity while patients await the definitive restoration.1

As the number of women in the industry continues to grow--in the practice, in the lab, in the schools and in the manufacturing sector--Dental Products Report wanted to develop an award that recognizes them for their many contributions. This year, our second soliciting nominations, the publication received more than 300 outstanding submissions among the five categories: dentists, team members, dental lab, research and education, and industry.

No matter how big or small your lab is, you’re not in this alone.

By now most of us realize the dental laboratory industry has dramatically changed and will never return to what it was five -to-six-years ago. In addition to technology and our stubborn economy, we are faced with two other important factors that are changing the face of our industry. First, the amount of laboratory work that’s being outsourced has increased at a higher rate than many industry leaders first predicted. This has obviously reduced a considerable amount of market share available to U.S. laboratories.

Treating edentulism pursues differing objectives: from a functional standpoint, restoring reasonable mastication and phonetic ability; and from an esthetic standpoint, restoring a patient’s natural smile in unison with age and personality. The aim is to give the individual a better quality of life and greater self-esteem.

The Lab The Lab 2000 Inc. is one of the largest female-owned dental laboratories in the country. Dena Lanier opened this Georgia-based crown and bridge lab in 1995, and Dennis Lanier, CDT, has served as the lab’s General Manager from the beginning. The Lab 2000 has 27 employees. The Product

01. How does BEGO’s new Production Center fit into today’s laboratory market needs?BEGO’s new Production Center offers laboratories the freedom to think about their business in new ways.