So now I have been informed that as of April, Argen has gone to wet milling in an effort to cut down on the number of chipped margins. That seems to correspond to when the shades started getting real bad. I don't know what their remake factor was with chipped margins but I can tell you that it's much worse now for me with bad shades.
I don't know how factual all this is but I can tell you as a lab that uses a TON of different Zirconia and have the ability to mill it wet I have not seen a need to EVER do it, but I sure as hell am not ramping any of my strategies up to try and crank em out. Now don't get bent, I am not calling you out and saying you are wrong, I am just make a few observations.
Lets face it ARGEN is a milling center seeing a ton of different designs from some great techs that UNDERSTAND margin line offsets and do not alter from the suggested specs. They also see a ton of sh!t from techs that have no clue, working on preps that are **** and not recommended for certain materials.
Zirconia, especially the CUBICS are awesome but they ALL still have min thickness and a sweet spot for strength. Any milling center worth its salt will mod their settings for min headaches to a get a product out the door that is in ONE PIECE. Not for ultimate end user results. Its a business and milling centers are looking for the fastest throughput with the highest milled success rate. Make sense?
Also can you imagine a CAD tech in house taking every single unit and running it through a cross section tool to see if it falls inside of spec? No way in hell ANYONE is doing that UNTILL their is a problem, and you get a little email.
As for coloring, why do you think the preshaded stuff is growing so much?
1) It looks pretty decent with minimum work which leads to better consistency, and fast throughput
2) The restorations today are a flipping commodity, if you are not controlling this side in house how do you expect to differentiate yourself and charge a premium? Do you really think you are that much better of a stain and glaze tech than what GW has?
3) How long before NO stain and glaze is needed? What will you make then?
I know I got off on a tangent and its going to get worse
but as someone that has rode the zirconia boom and continues to profit from it I can tell you its NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE to market singles today. At least for the price I CHOOSE to sell them for. Am I happy with the crowns we are selling? Heck yeah but clients today are wiser and have WAY MORE OPTIONS to get similar work. Building a relationship providing singles is not about the next greatest ZIRCONIA, in my opinion your crown is not going to be that much different. What is most important is the relationship and your ability to create consistency. THIS IS WHAT KEEPS them coming back.
As I have stated in the past, I come on these forums not to stick my chest out and be the know it all, I am here because like many of you dentistry is my life. I have found a way to stay viable selling myself and consistency. I wish you all to be successful, as I wind up my career I am more afraid to see where this industry will be in 2 years, things are evolving fast and dentistry as a whole is really struggling. The GP's are fighting hard to produce and grow a business based on what the INSCO are providing. Many of my wiser clients today have to work harder for less, sound familiar?
I'll leave you with a final thoughts to ponder,
How are you going to stay viable, what will keep you in business. What do you need to do today to make sure you have a future in this trade.
I know how I answered these question because I ask this every week month and year that I am in business.
