Voices From The Bench

Attend the 99th Annual Cal-Lab Meeting (https://cal-lab.org/) Feb 20 & 21 at the Swissôtel in Chicago. (Connected to the Hyatt and Lab Day) Elvis & Barb will be *recording there Thursday night during the "Cocktail Hour" from 4:00 to 6:30 * Register today: https://cal-lab.org/annual-meeting Make sure you visit Ivoclar (https://www.ivoclar.com/en_us) at LMT Lab Day Chicago 2025 (https://lmtmag.com/lmtlabday). Ivoclar will be in their usual spot at Grand Ballroom A&B in the East Tower, on the Gold Level. Right across from the registration desk. Register today! (https://lmtmag.com/ivoclar) Make sure you come see VOICES FROM THE BENCH recording from the Ballroom all weekend! We had the pleasure of sitting down with Jonny Jakson, a name synonymous with innovation in dental technology. Known affectionately as "Jonny Exocad," Jonny's journey is a testament to the power of family, passion, and the relentless pursuit of excellence in the dental lab industry. Johnny's story begins in a family deeply rooted in dental tec

In the ever-evolving world of dental technology, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for professionals looking to provide the best care for their patients. That's why we're excited to bring you an insightful conversation from our latest podcast episode featuring two industry leaders from Ivoclar, John Isherwood and Pat Coon. As we gear up for the highly anticipated LMT Lab Day Chicago 2025 (https://lmtmag.com/lmtlabday), this episode is a must-listen for anyone in the dental field. Ivoclar (https://www.ivoclar.com/en_us), a global leader in dental materials and technology, is celebrating 20 years of Emax (https://www.ivoclar.com/en_us/products/digital-processes/ips-e.max-press-abutment-solutions), a revolutionary product that has transformed the industry. John Isherwood, who has been with Ivoclar for 27 years, shares his journey from the world of sports PR to becoming a key figure in dental communications. His passion for the industry is evident as he discusses the importance of creating memorable experienc

In the ever-evolving world of dental technology, staying ahead of the curve is essential for both practitioners and patients. This week we talk with Dr. Nilo Hernandez and Johnny O., who are making waves in the industry with their groundbreaking SiOS system (https://siosdental.com/). This innovative approach promises to revolutionize the way full arch dentistry is performed, offering a more efficient and precise method that benefits both dental professionals and their patients. Dr. Nilo Hernandez, a seasoned implantologist with over 35 years of experience, and Johnny O., a dental technician with a wealth of digital expertise, have joined forces to address the challenges faced in full arch dentistry. Their collaboration led to the development of the SiOS system, a digital workflow designed to streamline the process and eliminate common issues encountered during implant procedures. The SiOS system stands out for its ability to adapt to any implant system and surgical workflow, thanks to its unique use of beacon

The end of the year is almost here! The holiday rush is almost over. HANG IN THERE! The journey to finding one's true calling can be as intricate as the work itself. For Carmel Vickers-Wall, a clinical dental technician from the UK, this journey began at the tender age of 16. Initially stepping into the dental field as a nurse, Carmel's path has been marked by a series of pivotal decisions that have led her to a fulfilling career that beautifully marries her artistic talents with her passion for patient care. In our latest podcast episode, Carmel shares her story, offering listeners an inside look into the world of dental technology and the unique role of a clinical dental technician. From her early days of doodling horror-themed art in school to contemplating a career in law, Carmel's path was anything but straightforward. It was a chance suggestion from her dentist that set her on a course towards the dental field, where she discovered a passion for helping patients and a love for the artistry involved in c

Usually, dental technicians frown upon dentists that do their own work. I mean, we get it, but we still want to do the work for you. But some dentists go as far as turning it into a 15 person lab doing work for other dentists. That we can get behind, because at that point they are creating careers for dental technicians. Dr. Donny Domingue followed an uncle to become a dentist. Wanting to do more with implants, he did a residency in New York that allowed him to place many. Once he found his home again in Lafayette, LA, Dr. Domingue started working with labs for his implant restorations. He found that he needed to educate many labs on the proper way to make a custom abutment. That's when he started doing his own. It wasn't long before he was doing them for other dentist and opened Louisiana Dental Implant Lab (https://www.ladentalimplantlab.com/). It was after training a bunch of engineers to be dental technician that Dr. Domingue developed the Vortex screw (https://www.ladentalimplantlab.com/collections/vorte

Come find Elvis and Barb in 2025! Vision 21 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas - January 16-18 (https://www.nadl.org/vision-21) Cal Lab Meeting at the Swissôtel in Chicago February 20-21 (https://cal-lab.org/) LMT Lab Day Chicago in the IVOCLAR BALLROOM - February 20-22 (https://cal-lab.org/) IDS 2025 in the EXOCAD booth in Cologne, Germany - March 25-29 (https://www.english.ids-cologne.de/?_gl=1*10atn6b*_ga*NzI2NTMzNjguMTcyOTQ0NDMzMA..*_ga_F5WGQ8B9S7*MTcyOTk4ODM5Ny4zLjEuMTcyOTk4ODg5Mi42MC4wLjA.) When choosing implant components, there are a lot of options out there. You COULD go OEM, but there is a lot to be said about cost and workflow when going with a third party option. How do you choose which option to go with? This episode we discuss why two people have chosen DESS Dental Solutions (https://www.dess-usa.com/?srsltid=AfmBOop0MkxSp_PWNT-yIBXnCm-22lVq4PeYO5AXuhvZdLfC2Zi0nMDR) for their implant workflow. Jimmy Stegall has been educating in our industry for years. Now he has opened his own company to help educ

Join the GOLDEN BENCH CLUB! All you have to do is leave us a 5-star review and comment on the Apple Podcast app (or any other app and email us a screen shot) and we will read your review on the podcast and welcome you to the Golden Bench Club. This super elite club is only for the best of the best Creating good culture in a dental lab is not easy. It takes dedication from owners and managers to set the path that the lab can follow. Two brothers both went through the apprenticeship program with John Archibald in the 90s. Darin Swartz was instantly hooked and opened up Swartz Dental Arts in the basement of a dental office after graduation. Followed by his younger brother, Mike Swartz graduated and opened his own lab. You would think they would partner up, but for 15 years they ran separate labs in the same space. After seeing technology coming into the industry, it was time to partner up and create Diamondhead Dental Lab (https://diamondheadlab.com/). They talk about doing their own apprenticeship program, grow

Come find Elvis and Barb in 2025! Vision 21 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas - January 16-18 (https://www.nadl.org/vision-21) Cal Lab Meeting at the Swissôtel in Chicago February 20-21 (https://cal-lab.org/) LMT Lab Day Chicago in the IVOCLAR BALLROOM - February 20-22 (https://cal-lab.org/) IDS 2025 in the EXOCAD booth in Cologne, Germany - March 25-29 (https://www.english.ids-cologne.de/?_gl=1*10atn6b*_ga*NzI2NTMzNjguMTcyOTQ0NDMzMA..*_ga_F5WGQ8B9S7*MTcyOTk4ODM5Ny4zLjEuMTcyOTk4ODg5Mi42MC4wLjA.) So it's probably safe to say that more labs have 3D printers than don't. And more and more dental offices are getting them too. It's a crowded area with a lot of different printers and resins to choose from. Joining the podcast this week is a IT and computer expert that years ago helped some dentist get into printing. Now Mike Gordon runs 3DNA Dental (https://3dnadental.com/) helping labs and offices get into the world of additive manufacturing. Mike talks about how he discovered dental, how he is creating a A.I. think

Back By Popular DEMAND, Elvis & Barbara are excited to re-release two shirts (along with long sleeves and hoodies) to hopefully fulfill your holiday shopping. “Just say no to brushing”- idea and the denture is from Brittany Mitchell: https://www.bonfire.com/shirt-for-removable-techs/ “Don’t pull out” features art work from Charlie Barbour at CIMBdesign: (https://www.redbubble.com/people/cimbdesign/shop?asc=u). https://www.bonfire.com/shirt-for-fixed-techs/ You should be able to both shirts in your cart if you want both…. And this time the podcast logo is on the back! Just a reminder that 100% of the profits get donated to the Foundation For Dental Laboratory Technology (https://dentallabfoundation.org/). With Barb off doing what ever ceramist do, Elvis has a nerdy implant conversation with Alan Banks from GuidedSMILE (https://guidedsmile.com/). Alan talks all about his history with Roe Dental Lab (https://www.roedentallab.com/) and how there have do THOUSANDS of guides using pretty much all the different p

Many labs outsource something. Designs, milling, or printing to ease the workflow and be able to do more work efficiently. But what about case entry and billing? Sometimes people put their best employees in those departments to make sure everything comes in correctly and more importantly gets invoices correctly. But it's never anything that a lab could outsource... until now. This week we meet Randy Berry and Jessica Wallen who says they can handle all of our incoming and outgoing work for a fraction of the cost of what you pay someone to do it. Randy and Jessica worked in a lab and struggled with case entry. Even in their smallish lab. Randy has run many large labs and saw that no matter what size, this was a bottleneck in any lab. It was Jessica that said there should be a better way. They started Certaineed Consulting (https://www.certainteed-consulting.com/), where they have a team of remote people that will do everything you are currently doing with your incoming and outgoing work. They talk about where

Join the GOLDEN BENCH CLUB! All you have to do is leave us a 5-star review and comment on the Apple Podcast app (or any other app and email us a screen shot) and we will read your review on the podcast and welcome you to the Golden Bench Club. This super elite club is only for the best of the best Photogrammetry is not new to dental. Years ago Kamil Zborowski brought the first units to the United States and even that first case worked perfectly. Growing up in labs, Kamil got into technology very early and was fascinated by the workflow. Not knowing removables, photogrammetry was his entrance to full arch implant workflows. Kamil comes on to talk about the history of the cameras starting with PIC (https://www.picdental.com/) and iCAM (https://imetric4d.com/), how and why the system works, integrating it with your 3shape (https://www.3shape.com/en) or exocad (https://exocad.com/), and how to go about getting into getting your own camera. Kamil now owns WTI Dental Concepts (https://wtidental.com/) and can help

Come find Elvis and Barb in 2025! Vision 21 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas - January 16-18 (https://www.nadl.org/vision-21) Cal Lab Meeting at the Swissôtel in Chicago February 20-21 (https://cal-lab.org/) LMT Lab Day Chicago in the IVOCLAR BALLROOM - February 20-22 (https://cal-lab.org/) IDS 2025 in the EXOCAD booth in Cologne, Germany - March 25-29 (https://www.english.ids-cologne.de/?_gl=1*10atn6b*_ga*NzI2NTMzNjguMTcyOTQ0NDMzMA..*_ga_F5WGQ8B9S7*MTcyOTk4ODM5Ny4zLjEuMTcyOTk4ODg5Mi42MC4wLjA.) If there is one dental lab in the United States that probably every single dentist in the US has heard of (and probably used at least once), it's Glidewell Dental Labs (https://glidewelldental.com/) in Newport Beach, California. For over 50 years, it has been run by the guy with his name on the building, but about 3 years ago, a new CEO was announced and everyone said Stephenie who? This week we get to know Stephenie Goddard and her history with Glidewell. Starting 18 years ago to run their HR department, she has seen G

Join the GOLDEN BENCH CLUB! All you have to do is leave us a 5-star review and comment on the Apple Podcast app (or any other app and email us a screen shot) and we will read your review on the podcast and welcome you to the Golden Bench Club. This super elite club is only for the best of the best Have you ever looked at crappy impressions or work and said to yourself, I could do better than this. That is exactly what this week's guest did. After working in a lab for an ex-father-in-law, Dr. Timothy Royer started doing all-on-xs in an in-office lab. Seeing all the bad he was getting, he was determined to become a dentist and do it better. After getting his Masters and then doctorate, Dr. Royer now owns Elite Dentures (https://elitedentures.net/) in Nederland, Texas where he is helping patients on their own journey through completely restoring their mouth and providing excellent care along the way. Listen to John Wilson from Sunrise Dental Lab (https://www.sunrisedentallaboratory.com/index.php) and take your

To run a successful company you need a good range of quality products and stellar people to help promote and train. Well that is who we found out is behind the company Aidite North America (https://www.aidite.com). Tom Heusing is the General Manager, Bob Hadley is the National Sales Manager, and Erica DiManna is the Marketing Manager. Together they talk about their previous employment together, finding their way back working together again, all about Aidite and Aidite North America, and why having the right people and the right partners is their key to their growth and success. Be sure to follow them everywhere at: Sign up for the Aidite Pulse monthly newsletter here: https://bit.ly/aiditepulse Aidite website: https://www.aidite.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AiditeNorthAmerica LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aidite-north-america/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiditenorthamerica/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AiditeNorthAmerica If you are in the market for purchasing a new mill

Due to power outages and flooding from the hurricane, many of our lab friends are in need of help. The amazing Shawn Nowak of Nowak Dental Supplies (https://www.nowakdental.com/) has started a GO FUND ME to help those in need. Please consider giving what you can to help! https://www.gofundme.com/f/rebuilding-dental-labs-after-hurricane-helene?lang=enUS&utmcampaign=fpsharesheet&utmcontent=amp8c&utmmedium=customer&utm_source=facebook When a dental technician reached out to the podcast and recommended a dentist as a guest, we figured they worked together. But when we found that they don't and this dentist just does amazing restorations for patient's that can't usually afford them, we knew it would be a great episode. Dr. Ben Kellum went to dental school not really knowing what he was getting into. It was there that he learned to really like implants and took an opportunity to run a residency program doing implants and full arch for drug rehab patients. It was there that he learned that doing the lab work himsel

Join the GOLDEN BENCH CLUB! All you have to do is leave us a 5-star review and comment on the Apple Podcast app (or any other app and email us a screen shot) and we will read your review on the podcast and welcome you to the Golden Bench Club. This super elite club is only for the best of the best When you think of companies that have changed dentistry for the better, Ivoclar (https://www.ivoclar.com/en_us) is always on that list. From the world’s first pressed ceramic to emax (https://www.ivoclar.com/makeitemax), from heat injected acrylics to milled dentures, Ivoclar has been innovating and making teeth better. This week Elvis and Barb talk to their VP of Product Marketing for North America Don Bell. Don was on the podcast almost 4 years ago and comes on to update us on what's been happing with the company. He talks about coming out of covid, learning from customer feedback, the evolution of dentures and the upcoming Ivotion print, living in the age of digital treatment planning through communication and co

Join the GOLDEN BENCH CLUB! All you have to do is leave us a 5-star review and comment on the Apple Podcast app (or any other app and email us a screen shot) and we will read your review on the podcast and welcome you to the Golden Bench Club. This super elite club is only for the best of the best We love Denturist and all they do to help patients and the ever-growing edentulous population. So imagine how excited Elvis and Barb were when they got to talk to Jade Connors from Alberta Canada. Jade owns Pearl Denture & Implant Centre (https://www.pearldenture.com/) and talks all about the journey leading up to it. You see, Jade is a millennial and openly talks about the mental struggles she had to overcome to find her love of dental. Starting with Art, she was afraid of going "corporate" so she looked at dental. Not liking authority, she went into dental lab technology and earned her RDT from Nait Polytechnic (https://www.nait.ca/nait/home). It was then she decided to go back to school and become a denturist and

Thank you to everyone that donated to our Race for the Future 10 triathlon. This was the biggest one yet in terms of money brought in. All of this money goes right back in to our industry and remember you can give all year long! https://dentallabfoundation.org/ Sometimes the business part of the lab is not the most exciting. But honestly, it's super important for everyone to understand in order for a lab (or any business) to be successful. The thinking that more units equal more profit is just not true. The one to help your lab is David Lesh from 8&9 Consulting (https://www.8and9consulting.com/). David is back on for a third time and now he is sharing the secrets of the financials that labs need to be profitable. David emphasizes that if you're not growing profitable sales, you're merely exhausting your resources without reaping the rewards. He also shares practical tips on how to reduce COGS and set key performance indicators (KPIs) to track and improve financial performance and a unique approach to setting

SHIRTS ARE BACK! *Elvis & Barbara are excited to release two new shirts (along with long sleeves and hoodies) to get ready for fall! This time we have two designs, one for removable techs and one for fixed. “Just say no to brushing”- idea and the denture is from Brittany Mitchell: https://www.bonfire.com/shirt-for-removable-techs/ “Don’t pull out” features art work from Charlie Barbour at CIMBdesign: (https://www.redbubble.com/people/cimbdesign/shop?asc=u). https://www.bonfire.com/shirt-for-fixed-techs/ You should be able to both shirts in your cart if you want both…. And this time the podcast logo is on the back! Just a reminder that 100% of the profits get donated to the Foundation For Dental Laboratory Technology (https://dentallabfoundation.org/). Sale ends September 14th. On September 11th in Fort Worth, Texas, the 10th annual Race For the Future (https://dentallabfoundation.org/news-events/race-for-the-future/) will take place to raise money for the Foundation For Dental Laboratory Technology (https:/

SHIRTS ARE BACK! *Elvis & Barbara are excited to release two new shirts (along with long sleeves and hoodies) to get ready for fall! This time we have two designs, one for removable techs and one for fixed. “Just say no to brushing”- idea and the denture is from Brittany Mitchell: https://www.bonfire.com/shirt-for-removable-techs/ “Don’t pull out” features art work from Charlie Barbour at CIMBdesign: (https://www.redbubble.com/people/cimbdesign/shop?asc=u). https://www.bonfire.com/shirt-for-fixed-techs/ You should be able to both shirts in your cart if you want both…. And this time the podcast logo is on the back! Just a reminder that 100% of the profits get donated to the Foundation For Dental Laboratory Technology (https://dentallabfoundation.org/). *Sale ends September 14th. On September 11th in Fort Worth, Texas, the 10th annual Race For the Future (https://dentallabfoundation.org/news-events/race-for-the-future/) will take place to raise money for the Foundation For Dental Laboratory Technology (https: