Dental Lab Products-2011-06-01

BEGO’s new CAD/CAM production center takes open scanner STL files to produce Selective Laser Melting (SLM) non-precious CoCr copings and bridges (single units to long span bridges), CAD/cast noble and high noble vacuum/pressure castings, or BeCe Waxup resin crown and bridges. SLM, a form of rapid-prototyping or Stereolithography that uses laser technology to melt alloy powder into thin layers, is used in all BEGO production centers. The layers are melted together to create homogeneous copings and bridges.

The Lab Williams and Harris Dental Laboratory, Richmond, Va., staffs 6-8 employees. Tim Lucero described the lab as a full-service lab that has been in business for more than 30 years. The Problem This lab has used the same alloys for many years and the metals get collected in a very specific way-a system which hasn’t changed over the years, Lucero said. And while metal prices and the lab’s metal invoices have been soaring in recent years, the lab’s scrap returns were relatively flat.

Whether talking about cell phones where something new and improved comes along every other day or cars where the next model comes out next year, the state-of-the-art in any category only remains so until something better comes along.

LabShop is a new logistic support tool from Ivoclar Vivadent that includes a scanner option that enables dental laboratories to easily order all of their Ivoclar Vivadent products. This new logistical approach to product ordering combines the simplicity of Web commerce with the information and tools laboratories need for selecting the best in materials-all in just a few clicks.

For more than 50 years dental laboratories have worked hard to differentiate their individual laboratory from the masses. In the early 1960s porcelain fused to metal restorations were just beginning to “come of age” and a few smart dental laboratories took advantage of this new technique to try to stand out from the crowd. There have been other techniques, materials and product/service innovations that laboratories have used over the years to try and gain a competitive advantage in an industry where everyone offers the same types of products and services.

01. DENTSPLY Prosthetics launched a new branding campaign this year. Can you tell us why?

The details that posterior teeth possess fascinate many dental professionals. The intricate lobes and forms that posteriors develop in nature are always fun and challenging to recreate when fabricating restorations. Many tools have been developed by companies to aid in this process, however I always have been fascinated by the handmade tools I have seen technicians create to aide in their quest to recreate nature.

CAD/CAM production in a dental lab needs to be a round-trip operation. The patient-specific information required to produce a restoration can be easily digitized, but the designs based on that information need to be exported from the computer in a physical form, and for labs fully committed to a digital production model, investing in a stand-alone mill can be a great way to take complete control of the finalized physical production.

Restorations created with dental CAD/CAM devices, specifically CEREC by Sirona, have directly and profoundly changed the process of creating indirect restorations. The technology developed during the past 25 years is revolutionary and represents a major shift in technique, materials, speed, comfort and convenience. Today’s machinable materials are up to 300% stronger than conventional all-porcelain restorations, and can be milled into highly durable crowns, inlays, onlays and veneers.

I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.