Voices From The Bench

Let's be honest, dental technology is one of the greatest careers. You get to create and help people at the same time. Super satisfying. But imagine if you also got to do it for movies and television, creating iconic characters. That is exactly what Gary Archer does. He was asked to make a denture in one of the most famous scenes involving a denture falling out of a mouth and from there they never stopped. Making prosthetic teeth for hundreds of movies and shows, Gary Archer's list is impressive. Check it out here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0033664/. Gary talks about getting into the special effects industry, a few of the amazing movies and TV shows he's worked on, and the techniques he uses to get the desired (or undesired) effect that help shape the characters we loved and hated. *** Be sure to check out our new online store (https://www.voicesfromthebench.com/store#!/) where 100% of the profits are donated to The Foundation for Dental Technology (http://dentallabfoundation.org/)*** Aurident (https://w

So you get a letter from the FDA stating that they will be in your lab in a few weeks to inspect your operations for a certain restoration you are fabricating. What do you do? Panic? Leave town? Put your model room in charge and say good luck? Tim Torbenson has been dealing with the FDA and the dental industry for years and that's why he started Evo820 (https://www.evo820.com/) to help labs be compliant with the new rules. Tim comes on the podcast to talk about the history of the FDA looking at dental labs, why it is changing, and what you can do to prepare yourself for when they do come. We have a lot of fun during this conversation about a very serious topic. Just a few weeks away until the first dental laboratory conference of 2021 kicks off. The Dental Laboratory Conference of Texas (DLAT) (http://dlat.org/) is having an in-person meeting March 26 & 27 in Grapevine, Texas. Register today! Voices From the Bench will be recording REMOTELY from the Argen (https://argen.com/#/) booth "Live, not Live". G

There are many 3D printers in our industry. But one of them was the creator of the technology most of them use now. Al Siblani created EnvisionTEC (https://envisiontec.com/) out of years of experience in the automotive industry printing wooden molds. Expanding on the idea and seeing a need in other industries, Al disrupted other markets before introducing it to the dental industry. Al talks about the history of EnvisionTEC, the story of it getting into dental, their efforts during COVID, what makes their printers unique, and what exciting things EnvisionTEC is working on next to disrupt it all over again. Aurident (https://www.aurident.com/) offers so much more than just the P5 michine (https://www.aurident.com/p5/). They offer all the needed accessories like Nabertherm furnaces (https://www.aurident.com/furnaces/) and vacuums by Renfert. And all the consumables can be got in one place! Aurident has Delta Zirconia (https://www.aurident.com/delta-zirconia/), Aurident Zr (https://www.aurident.com/aurident-zr-

As Texas thaws out, it is time to think about the Dental Laboratory Association of Texas annual conference. March 26 & 27 in Grapevine Texas. Voices From the Bench will be recording remotely from the Argen (https://argen.com/#/) booth again this year. Register today (https://members.dlat.org/membership/) and stop by and chat with us! Mike Farago's father was a dedicated dental technician. Somehow, Mike grew up not wanting to be a dental technician. But with one project helping his dad set up a new phone system, Mike fell in love with the people, the processes, and the industry. Mike talks about buying Concord Dental Laboratory (https://www.concorddentallab.com/), becoming a needed leader to the employees he needs so much, outsourcing employees and not work, and creating a sustainable business that doesn't' rely on one technician for one offered service. Aurident (https://www.aurident.com/) offers so much more than just the P5 michine (https://www.aurident.com/p5/). They offer all the needed accessories like

One would think that to bring a line of dental products geared towards full arch restorations to America you would have to know how to use it. Defying all odds, Tay Harvey took a degree in Journalism, a love for the mini implants, and a passion for the dental laboratory industry to bring anaxdent (https://www.anaxdentusa.com/) to North America. Tay talks about how she took a chance on a "little known" product line out of Germany mixed it with AMAZING marketing and turned it into a great company offering "hella" customer service. Aurident (https://www.aurident.com/) offers so much more than just the P5 michine (https://www.aurident.com/p5/). They offer all the needed accessories like Nabertherm furnaces (https://www.aurident.com/furnaces/) and vacuums by Renfert. And all the consumables can be got in one place! Aurident has Delta Zirconia (https://www.aurident.com/delta-zirconia/), Aurident Zr (https://www.aurident.com/aurident-zr-zirconia/), Aurident cutting tools, and Quest pmma (https://www.aurident.co

Head over to the DLAT Southwest Conference and Expo March 26-27, 2021 (http://members.dlat.org/membership/2021-conference-portal/). Voices From the Bench will be recording remotely LIVE, NOT LIVE from the Argen (https://www.argen.com/#/) booth! How are you sleeping? Well, if you listen to our podcast while in bed, it's probably pretty good. But most people have some form of sleep apnea. Dental sleep devices are becoming a bigger and bigger appliance for labs to get into. Dr. Mark Murphy started his career as a dental technican, became a dentist, came back to be involved with dental labs, and is now working with ProSomnus® Sleep Technologies (https://prosomnus.com/) to help the world sleep better. Mark talks about how dentist identify and treat sleep apnea patients and how, if not treated, can affect one's life. Learn all about sleep devices and what they do to make the world a better place. Aurident (https://www.aurident.com/) offers so much more than just the P5 michine (https://www.aurident.com/p5/). They

We welcome back Bennett Napier from the NADL (National Association of Dental Laboratories) (https://nadl.org/). Bennett stops by the podcast for a brief update of the state of our industry, technicians getting vaccines, and the upcoming Vision 21 meeting being held April 8 - 10 in Nashville, TN. While many labs are already full into the digital workflow, some are still looking for a way to enter the "game". And some of the labs that are already in the "game" need a resource to improve the workflow or assistance to bring on a new product. Enter Jesse Zamarripa from Opulent Digital Specialist (https://opulentcadcam.com/). Jesse comes on the podcast to talk about how his company can help your lab enter the digital workflow or even help you improve your current workflow with dedicated service available 24/7. Partnering with names such as Amman Girrbach (https://www.amanngirrbach.us/home/), ExoCad (https://exocad.com/), and NT-Trading (https://nt.dental/en/products-en/), Opulent is a good option with labs that

A lot of labs fabricate overdentures. Hader bars, Dolder Bars, and wrap around bars for fixed hybrids. All very common in our industry. But years ago Arian Deutsch from Deutsch Dental Arts (http://www.deutschlab.com/) found a better solution and built a lab and career around it. Taking skills from both CAD/CAM and handcrafted art, Arian was able to make patient removable restorations by using 0 degree gold Electro-formed substructures friction fitted over copings that use no wearable nylon parts. Super interesting. He also talks about his journey into denturism, building his dream education center, and what's next for the Deutsch's. Aurident (https://www.aurident.com/) offers so much more than just the P5 michine (https://www.aurident.com/p5/). They offer all the needed accessories like Nabertherm furnaces (https://www.aurident.com/furnaces/) and vacuums by Renfert. And all the consumables can be got in one place! Aurident has Delta Zirconia (https://www.aurident.com/delta-zirconia/), Aurident Zr (https://w

We all know how hard it is to find good, talented, and knowledgeable removable technicians. Even when good candidates get into the field, it's not an easy skill to train. Enter the Swiss School of Prosthetics (https://www.ssop.swiss/en). Steffen Rohrbach came to America with a German degree in dental technology and after a time in the Army, Steffen connected with Edmonds Dental Prosthetics (http://www.edmondsdentalprosthetics.com/) in Springfield, Missouri. With a passion and desire to train their technicians, they decided they also wanted to "raise the bar" in the whole industry on removable prosthetics. Connecting with Candulor (https://www.candulor.com/en-us), Steffen and Edmonds built a facility for the first Swiss School of Prosthetics in the US. Steffen talks about the journey becoming a teacher and what the courses have to offer to fellow labs and technicians. The UP 3D P5 milling maching (https://www.aurident.com/p5/) from Aurident (https://www.aurident.com/)is a 5 axis, efficient, dry mill. Great f

Most of us think we have a pretty good team in our lab. But sometimes you run in to a couple of technicians that, when together, create great work and even better experiences. Conrad Rensburg came to this country as a trained dental technician and over the years eventually purchased Absolute Dental Services (https://www.absolutedentalservices.com/). Starting as a smaller lab and then growing to 6 locations, Conrad needed to improve and increase their product line. That's when Jack Marrano, the Director of their Signature Prosthetics Division, came in to train the technicians, improve their scalability, and bring in new technology. Conrad and Jack come on the podcast to talk about all that, plus getting into the Lucitone Carbon printed denture (https://www.carbon3d.com/materials/lucitone-digital-print/), strengthening their brand through social media, and participating in the dental laboratory industry. The UP 3D P5 milling maching (https://www.aurident.com/p5/) from Aurident (https://www.aurident.com/)is

One of the most common restorations for labs to "outsource" is metal frameworks and flexible partials. The training, personal, and equipment is a huge hurdle to overcome and Bertram Dental Lab can be your partner. All made in the US and decades of experience. Growing up in a lab that almost 100% made metal frames for other labs, Tim Bertram started at an early age. Now he owns Bertram Dental Lab (https://www.bertramdental.com/) that still makes metal frames for other labs, but now does it with an impressive digital workflow. He talks about printing SLM frames, milling flexibles, and printing surgical guides. With a move to a new facility, Bertram is setting up to be partner for you lab for a long time. The UP 3D P5 milling maching (https://www.aurident.com/p5/) from Aurident (https://www.aurident.com/)is a 5 axis, efficient, dry mill. Great for milling zirconia, PMMA and wax. It boasts software that produces high precision and fast milling. It can mill a crown in 14 minutes and the tool life yields about 60

Imagine taking your skill and talents working on the bench everyday and becoming known as the "best-of-the-best" in overdentures. You can! For the last 4 years Panthera Dental (https://pantheradental.com/) has put on the Panther Master Cup (https://pantheradental.com/master-cup/), a contest featuring the best technicians from around the world competing in making the best double overdenture case. The co-founder of Panthera and past podcast guest Béatrice Robichaud comes on the show to talk about the history of the cup and the process of making the top 10. We are also joined by the 2020 second place winner Jeffrey Luk from the Shaw Lab Group (https://shawlabgroup.com/) in Canada. Jeffrey talks about the experience of submitting his initial photos, getting the models for the contest and having to learn new skills, and making the top 3 in this amazing yearly event. Pre-register for the 2021 Pathera Master Cup or suggest a colleague or friend (https://pantheradental.com/master-cup/) The UP 3D P5 milling maching (

It all started with a meme we made on Facebook August 25th, 2020. Check it out (https://www.facebook.com/Voicesfromthebench/photos/3316421435103695). Dentsply Sirona (https://www.dentsplysirona.com/en-us) reached out to us wanting to have someone one the podcast to talk about what they are doing. Lucky for us, we got to talk to Jimmy Stegall. Jimmy is a true laboratory technician who has a loud voice within Dentsply Sirona. He talks about his early days and his decision to leave the lab and work for a manufacturer. Now he spends his time traveling the country training labs on the Lucitone Digital Printed Denture (https://www.dentsplysirona.com/en-us/categories/lab/3d-printed-dentures.html) using the Carbon printer (https://www.carbon3d.com/). He also answers questions on why Dentsply Sirona recently got rid of some analog materials and how they are structuring the company to support the labs. The UP 3D P5 milling maching (https://www.aurident.com/p5/) from Aurident (https://www.aurident.com/)is a 5 axis,

Regardless of size, dental laboratories need to be productive, efficient, and to deliver products on time. Imagine a software that can help you do all those things so you can free up time to concentrate on the quality and consistency. Richard Pickard came to the US with a concept of helping dental labs with their production. He started Inventrix (http://inventrix.us.com/homePage.html), a company that makes the LabTrac Enterprise software (http://inventrix.us.com/product.html) that will allow labs to schedule cases and track them in real-time. Richard talks about the history of LabTrac, how LabTrac works (when you let it work), why it's a good fit for most labs but not all, and what amazing advancements and partnerships they are creating to bring you a better LabTrac in the future. The UP 3D P5 milling maching (https://www.aurident.com/p5/) from Aurident (https://www.aurident.com/)is a 5 axis, efficient, dry mill. Great for milling zirconia, PMMA and wax. It boasts software that produces high precision and f

**Vote for Voices From the Bench for best dental podcast of 2020!!! (https://dentalpodcast.org/vote-for-your-favorite-dental-podcast-2020/?fbclid=IwAR2MgKcWLw7_L5M1Sbgjtxqq4XJSebIB2EcY5Be9DGGsTEhEdmN164ylAfI) This podcast is all about featuring people from and associated with our industry. But it's not very often that we get to talk with someone that 100% of the people in dentistry have heard of. Jim Glidwell from Glidewell Laboratories (https://glidewelldental.com/), comes on the podcast to talk about how he accidently and without a plan grew to be one of the largest and most successful dental laboratories in the world with multiple locations worldwide. Jim is a technician at heart that explains that you have to "constantly mess up" to deal with the "Constant Change". From his kitchen table to 5,000+ employees, there is sure to be something learned from him. Jim talks about the importance of advertising, popularizing monolithic zirconia, how COVID affected him personally and the lab, and his new book comi

Don Bell, the Vice President of Product Marketing in North America for Ivoclar Vivadent (https://www.ivoclarvivadent.us/), has seen a lot of products come and go. He has seen a lot of technology come and go. As labs and manufacturers enter this new era of dentistry, Don and Ivoclar has had to adapt. But in a good way. Don talks about what happened at Ivoclar during the shutdown and how they are coming back, their one-puck denture milling system called Ivotion, the e.max ZirCAD Prime, and what's next for Ivoclar. The UP 3D P5 milling maching (https://www.aurident.com/p5/) from Aurident (https://www.aurident.com/)is a 5 axis, efficient, dry mill. Great for milling zirconia, PMMA and wax. It boasts software that produces high precision and fast milling. It can mill a crown in 14 minutes and the tool life yields about 60-80 hours of quality restorations. A game changer for labs of all sizes, big and small. For under $20K, a small lab can now do their own milling instead of outsourcing and reducing their profi

When you can't be somewhere, the next best thing is to talk to the people who could. That is what Elvis and Barb did in early October. Argen (https://argen.com/#/) partnered up with VFTB to set up a computer and a microphone at the DLAT (Dental Laboratory Association of Texas) (https://members.dlat.org/membership/) conference and talk to many of the attendees. This week wraps up all of the fantastic conversations from wonderful people who were brave enough to attend the first in-person meeting since the beginning of the pandemic. First up is Jason Stubbs, who is amazing at getting the word out on social media about all the amazing things the DLAT is doing and also speaking at the event about using Texas Dental Lab law to get new clients. Then sitting down is a one-woman lab owner, Bianka Nathery, who talks about the pros and cons of working by yourself and learning the craft in Germany where she grew up. Then we wrap up the whole conference with Mel Thorp, who 50 years ago was in a horrible accident th

What do you do when you can't travel to see friends? You do the next best thing. The Dental Laboratory Association of Texas (https://members.dlat.org/membership/) held their annual conference in October this year. While Elvis and Barb wanted to be there, they couldn't. So the good people at Argen (https://argen.com/#/) set up a computer and microphone at their booth and got people from the event to sit down and do the next best thing we are calling "Live, Not Live" from the Argen booth at the DLAT. Up first we talk with Larry Mercadel CDT. He's retired from the Air Force and he's retired from the bench and loving every minute of it. Still passionate for the industry and the DLAT, Larry is there to learn, mingle, and help the show run. Next up is Scott McGaha, owner of Precision Ortho (http://precisionortho.biz/), who comes on to talk about his lab, how he got started, what they do, and adapting with new technology. Great times from the Argen booth at the DLAT. The UP 3D P5 milling maching (https://www.aurid

Remember Lab Day Chicago? When dental technicians from around the world could get together with our worry or concern. When the pandemic hit every show, event, conference, and symposium got pushed to a later date or canceled. Most moved until 2021. But not Texas! Texas pulled off a successful IN-PERSON conference in early October. Unfortunately Voices From the Bench could not attend... physically. But our good friends at Argen, set up a booth with a computer and microphone, and got a ton of attendees and speakers to sit down and chat with us. It was fantastic talking to people again with the feel of being in person. This week kicks of a series of conversations we are calling "Live, Not Live From Argen (https://argen.com/#/) booth at the DLAT (https://members.dlat.org/membership/)". First up we chat with Matthew Douglas, the president of the DLAT. Then long-time fan of the podcast, Lauren Blanton, who actually moved far away and flew back to attend the conference talks with us about multiple CDTs and the

It's amazing how far zirconia has come in our industry. There are monolithic crown that have such good translucency that they rival lithium disilicate. But so many labs still layer them to get the desired results. Enter MIYO (https://jensendental.com/miyo/). the liquid ceramic that is taking the lab industry by storm (a name of one of their translucent colors). Don Cornell saw a need to improve the monolithic zirconia crown. To make it better. To make it look more like a natural tooth. With the resources of Jensen Dental (https://jensendental.com/) (already an expert in Zirconia and ceramics), Don was able to create a layering ceramic that gives the qualities of a natural tooth with less sacrifice of the crown material. Don talks about his early days, teaming up with Jensen, and how he and his team created MIYO. Pre-order: Constant Change: Adventures in business and life – my journey from start-up to 5,000 employees by Jim Glidewell (https://www.amazon.com/Constant-Change-Adventures-business-employees/dp/0