Aurident's Aur-i-Vest Investment

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.

The Product

Aur-i-Vest Investment brings proven high reliability and advanced technology to the dental laboratory. A fine-grain, phosphate based, carbon free investment, Aur-i-Vest is compatible with all dental materials: castable precious and non-precious alloys for ceramic or crown and bridge applications, titanium alloys, and pressable ceramics.

Aur-i-Vest is easy to mix. Its high strength and exceptional thermal conductivity permit the time-saving burn-out procedure, and a quick set time before burnout promotes efficiency. It is suitable for quick burn-outs (less than 20 minutes), ringless technique when wax sprues are used or conventional burn-out and paper-lined metal rings. It comes in both 100g and 60g packages with special liquid and instructions for all applications.    

The results

Konishi was looking for something to help make his lab a little more efficient. At the time, about six or seven years ago, he was using multiple investments in his lab-a few just for gold and a few just for ceramic alloys. He decided he wanted to switch to a universal investment, one go-to product he could use for all his casting and pressable procedures.

Aurident had just released Aur-i-Vest Investment at the time, an investment that can be used with all types of metal alloys and all types of pressable ceramics. Konishi decided he’d give it a try. Since then, Aur-i-Vest has become that go-to investment for Konishi Dental Laboratory, and he hasn’t even considered trying anything else.

So what are the main benefits, bringing in the ROI for this lab? The accuracy that comes from a precise fit regardless of the material used, and the time it saves him and his technicians.

“It’s basically the ease of use and also the accuracy,” Konishi said. “The accuracy has been very good for us. If we do need to make any kind of adjustments the water/powder ratios are easy to adjust. We also like the quick burn-out technique that we use with the investment. We save a lot of time using it.”

Because the investment is so accurate the number of remakes coming out of his lab has been significantly reduced, which of course equals savings of both time and money. Not only that, it makes his clients and their patients happy, avoiding the many headaches that come along with remakes.

Other benefits? Konishi’s lab doesn’t have as many recasts as they did before they began using this product. The non-adhering characteristics of the investment makes devesting easier, Konishi said, offering even more time savings for his lab. Beyond that, it’s easy to pour and mix, while it features extra fine grain for exceptionally smooth castings. 

“Things come out very clean,” Konishi said. “Margins are very sharp and everything works out very well with it.”

The reduced number of remakes, the accuracy and the fact that this product is so easy to use are all great benefits that have meant ROI for Konishi, but the fact that he only has to buy and store one investment product is the biggest money and time-saver this product offers.

“We can invest a lot of things together. We might just have to change the water/powder ratio for the different items we’re casting,” Konishi said. “But the storing and the inventory of just one investment makes it worthwhile for us both dollar wise and time wise.”

If you’re using multiple investment and looking for something more efficient that saves you time and money, Konishi recommends you give Aur-i-Vest a try.

“We’re really pleased with the company (Aurident) that we purchased Aur-i-Vest from. We’ve been with them for quite a long time and the product is just working out fine for us,” Konishi said. “We have no thoughts of trying any other investment because it’s been working out so well.”