Dandy Lab - 3D Dentures

[kenn]

what printers have you used to make digital dentures, and what are your likes/dislikes for each?

Personal usage is limited to Carbon, Asiga, and Formlabs. I've evaluated samples from the likes of HeyGears, NextDent, Stratasys J5, etc etc.

I don't think I have particularly new/novel opinions on the printers themselves that you haven't heard before:

• Carbon consistently produces great results without really thinking about it. Everything just works.
• Asiga can produce similar results to the Carbon, but with far more maintenance and baby sitting. There are also a handful of under-the-hood tradeoffs they make that Carbon doesn't. Also find Composer clunky to use, especially in a production setting.
• Formlabs SW (Preform) product is better than Composer, but not in the same ballpark as the others when it comes to HW. I suspect a lot of that will change as the Form 4 matures.

WRT Digital Dentures, it's so far been the story of Lucitone. I'm going to butcher the exact science behind this, but Carbon's projector does far more upfront "curing" than other printers. This drives better overall part strength, and relies less on post-curing (which obvs is heavily impacted by part thickness/mass).

 

[Affinity]

This is your daily reminder that if youre one of these bottom-sucking-sellout dandy outsource labs, please stop! Close your lab, your ruining everything!

 

[JohnWilson]

Hey Doc,


You asked for a roast, but what you need is a reality check—and maybe a little history lesson.


I’ve been in this trade for over four decades, and I’ve watched the soul of dental technology get chipped away by short-term convenience and marketing dressed up as innovation. Let me be clear: it’s not the printed denture that offends me—it’s the mindset. The mindset that says “free scanner” is a good reason to sell out the relationship with your technician. That the bottom line justifies cutting out the very people who built the foundation you’re standing on.


You call $350 “not bad” for a printed arch? Let me tell you what that number doesn’t buy: pride, artistry, support, or partnership. It buys a transaction. A hollow, vendor-driven, support-ticket economy where the only goal is to push volume, not outcomes.


I come from an era where we built things together. Dentist and technician, working side by side, not across a portal. We picked up the phone. We studied failures. We celebrated when a patient cried tears of joy. You think you’re getting a good deal, but you’re mortgaging trust for a few bucks shaved off an invoice.


If you’re doing 5–10 full removables a month and still outsourcing to a faceless factory, I have to ask: what exactly are you building? A practice? Or a fulfillment pipeline?


And the saddest part? This isn’t even about you. It’s about what this shift says to the next generation, that craft doesn’t matter. That people don’t matter. That the lab is just a tool, not a partner.


I’m not going to pat you on the back for “leveraging tech.” Tech is just a tool, it’s what you do with it that matters. If you want to elevate your outcomes, start with relationships. Find a local lab that gives a damn. One that will collaborate, push you, and grow with you. Or invest the time to build it in-house and own the responsibility.


But please, don’t frame this as progress. Because what I’m seeing is decay, not evolution. And those of us still fighting for the soul of this trade—we’re tired of watching it be sold off for scanner rebates and call-center dentures.


– John Wilson
Sunrise Dental Laboratory
Mentor, Maker, Still Holding the Line and thriving because RELATIONSHIPS matter.

 

[sidesh0wb0b]

Hey Doc,


You asked for a roast, but what you need is a reality check—and maybe a little history lesson.


I’ve been in this trade for over four decades, and I’ve watched the soul of dental technology get chipped away by short-term convenience and marketing dressed up as innovation. Let me be clear: it’s not the printed denture that offends me—it’s the mindset. The mindset that says “free scanner” is a good reason to sell out the relationship with your technician. That the bottom line justifies cutting out the very people who built the foundation you’re standing on.


You call $350 “not bad” for a printed arch? Let me tell you what that number doesn’t buy: pride, artistry, support, or partnership. It buys a transaction. A hollow, vendor-driven, support-ticket economy where the only goal is to push volume, not outcomes.


I come from an era where we built things together. Dentist and technician, working side by side, not across a portal. We picked up the phone. We studied failures. We celebrated when a patient cried tears of joy. You think you’re getting a good deal, but you’re mortgaging trust for a few bucks shaved off an invoice.


If you’re doing 5–10 full removables a month and still outsourcing to a faceless factory, I have to ask: what exactly are you building? A practice? Or a fulfillment pipeline?


And the saddest part? This isn’t even about you. It’s about what this shift says to the next generation, that craft doesn’t matter. That people don’t matter. That the lab is just a tool, not a partner.


I’m not going to pat you on the back for “leveraging tech.” Tech is just a tool, it’s what you do with it that matters. If you want to elevate your outcomes, start with relationships. Find a local lab that gives a damn. One that will collaborate, push you, and grow with you. Or invest the time to build it in-house and own the responsibility.


But please, don’t frame this as progress. Because what I’m seeing is decay, not evolution. And those of us still fighting for the soul of this trade—we’re tired of watching it be sold off for scanner rebates and call-center dentures.


– John Wilson
Sunrise Dental Laboratory
Mentor, Maker, Still Holding the Line and thriving because RELATIONSHIPS matter.

@Travis can this be highlighted and posted at the top of the thread?
and home page?
and every page?

 

[Affinity]

damn John, I was just trying to kick up some dust!

 

[Affinity]

Its actually pretty fun telling Drs that you cant repair their broken printed denture. 'How do you know its printed?'

 

[CoolHandLuke]

Its actually pretty fun telling Drs that you cant repair their broken printed denture. 'How do you know its printed?'

there are many kinds of plastics that arent related to each other and arent similar enough to bond?

witchcraft!

 

[Affinity]

You lost me there.. How do you fix a printed denture snapped in half at the locator? And how many minutes will it last?

 

[RDA]

Well stated John. I too have been in the trade for four decades and have seen the shifts. I have always maintained that if I wouldn't put it in my mouth, or my familiy's mouth, than I won't do it.
Dental procedures are expenisve and I value the patients time and money as I do my own. Put out a great product and make it last.
Doc have a conscience and build a practice that you can be proud of. You want what is said behind your back to be postive, and not negative from your patients.

 

[Affinity]

I suggest everyone that finds this thread go to glassdoor and look at the employee reviews at dandy, its tragically comical.. and its not just the techs writing most of these reviews, its software engineers, salesman, designers. Any Dr with a concsience should have a problem supporting this company. It takes 5 minutes to see that they are sending their design work to egypt and turkey, having robots mill everything out, and have non-trained techs man auto-glaze machines. To quote one review ' the oceangate of startups' .. 'burning through capital' 'the most toxic workplace' 'sweatshop' 'unrealistic goals' 'ran by ivy league bros whose dental knowlege is that they went to a dentist and figured out, hey I have teeth, how can I make a billion dollars ' Trust me its worth the time!

 

[RDA]

I suggest everyone that finds this thread go to glassdoor and look at the employee reviews at dandy, its tragically comical.. and its not just the techs writing most of these reviews, its software engineers, salesman, designers. Any Dr with a concsience should have a problem supporting this company. It takes 5 minutes to see that they are sending their design work to egypt and turkey, having robots mill everything out, and have non-trained techs man auto-glaze machines. To quote one review ' the oceangate of startups' .. 'burning through capital' 'the most toxic workplace' 'sweatshop' 'unrealistic goals' 'ran by ivy league bros whose dental knowlege is that they went to a dentist and figured out, hey I have teeth, how can I make a billion dollars ' Trust me its worth the time!

The dental community has to look at Dandy for what that company really is. It's two venture capitalists, Daniel Hanover and Toni Oloko, that looked at the market value of dentistry and they decide to cash in on it. They know nothing about the dental industry, except for their annual dental check-ups. They hire the desperate to work for them, and entice dental offices with a "free" scanner. Dentists that go this path are not the ones that we would work with most days anyway.

The same can be said about DSO's. The patient becomes a number and the practice is run by accountants and insurance companies.

The US dental services market was valued at $130.30 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $216.33 billion by 2030.

 

[Affinity]

The problem isnt that these arent dentists most good labs would want, its that the bar is being lowered so far and new millenial dentists are clueless to the effects of VC marketing. You have a hollow company, with no dental foundation, just burn through capital and churn through new clients. From the sounds of it, it is colossally failing.
John nailed it, did you go to school to be an excellent dentist, or a fulfillment pipeline. These dentists are shooting themselves in the foot. Once these sharks eat all the remoras, youre just left with slimy sharks.

 

[sidesh0wb0b]

The dental community has to look at Dandy for what that company really is. It's two venture capitalists, Daniel Hanover and Toni Oloko, that looked at the market value of dentistry and they decide to cash in on it. They know nothing about the dental industry, except for their annual dental check-ups. They hire the desperate to work for them, and entice dental offices with a "free" scanner. Dentists that go this path are not the ones that we would work with most days anyway.

The same can be said about DSO's. The patient becomes a number and the practice is run by accountants and insurance companies.

The US dental services market was valued at $130.30 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $216.33 billion by 2030.

i dont know what the market share is that dandy is taking a slice of...but i assure you they wouldnt do it for peanuts. from a business perspective, i commend them for seeing an opportunity and leaping. as the guy on the other side, i agree with you. though the amount of dentists utilizing dandy is growing. even if they bail after awhile. as more and more new dentists enter the market and are looking at six figures of debt from school plus wanting to start their own practice for six figures and beyond, @Affinity nailed it. the bar is being lowered and the outcomes for more and more patients is dipping. @JohnWilson and his post are so well thought out and verbalized in a way that many of us...or at least me...hasn't been able to do. its a bit scary, definitely sad, concerning at the least, and a good head scratcher too!

 

[Affinity]

I dont have the professionalism of john.. Ive been going scorched earth on dentaltown

I rarely go on there anymore, but the scene has definitely changed, they are eating there own over there, a lot of questioning why they are even in dentistry or why they cant make any money to pay off $350k of college debt, or why they make cringey insta videos about national dental asst day instead of educating patients with more than just brush your teeth and drink your fluoride.

 

[CoolHandLuke]

they should put fluoride in ovaltine

 

[Affinity]

anywhere but utah and florida

 

[Denture Dude]

.

 

[Denture Dude]

Does anyone here know with a high level of certainty what committment is required of the docs from dandy? I hear there are certain 'tiers.'

 

[GoldenA]

Two things, unless milled, all of the manufactures of 3D Printed dentures I've spoken with would not consider them to be used long-term. Some even have said maybe 1 year (which means at least 2) so kind of an expensive 'temporary' denture in my opinion. $350 seems expensive for that type of product; when you could use an economy for a temporary or go with the traditional heat cured or milled for longer term use.

Just out of curiosity, what are their fees for Crown and Bridge, how much for a normal Full Zirconia crown?
I have had a few clients use Dandy but then left for one reason or another but always curios about their pricing.
www.mabeldental.com

I totally agree on dentures, our generation is "addicted" to fast and cheap.
On Dandy's workmanship is "average" , growth is important but too much growth can be bad thus the shapeless single ZR crowns.
Glidewell lab does a better job if you prefer "fast and cheap", maybe their shipping bags are not as modern and fancy.

 

[NickBtheCDT]

Hey Doc,


You asked for a roast, but what you need is a reality check—and maybe a little history lesson.


I’ve been in this trade for over four decades, and I’ve watched the soul of dental technology get chipped away by short-term convenience and marketing dressed up as innovation. Let me be clear: it’s not the printed denture that offends me—it’s the mindset. The mindset that says “free scanner” is a good reason to sell out the relationship with your technician. That the bottom line justifies cutting out the very people who built the foundation you’re standing on.


You call $350 “not bad” for a printed arch? Let me tell you what that number doesn’t buy: pride, artistry, support, or partnership. It buys a transaction. A hollow, vendor-driven, support-ticket economy where the only goal is to push volume, not outcomes.


I come from an era where we built things together. Dentist and technician, working side by side, not across a portal. We picked up the phone. We studied failures. We celebrated when a patient cried tears of joy. You think you’re getting a good deal, but you’re mortgaging trust for a few bucks shaved off an invoice.


If you’re doing 5–10 full removables a month and still outsourcing to a faceless factory, I have to ask: what exactly are you building? A practice? Or a fulfillment pipeline?


And the saddest part? This isn’t even about you. It’s about what this shift says to the next generation, that craft doesn’t matter. That people don’t matter. That the lab is just a tool, not a partner.


I’m not going to pat you on the back for “leveraging tech.” Tech is just a tool, it’s what you do with it that matters. If you want to elevate your outcomes, start with relationships. Find a local lab that gives a damn. One that will collaborate, push you, and grow with you. Or invest the time to build it in-house and own the responsibility.


But please, don’t frame this as progress. Because what I’m seeing is decay, not evolution. And those of us still fighting for the soul of this trade—we’re tired of watching it be sold off for scanner rebates and call-center dentures.


– John Wilson
Sunrise Dental Laboratory
Mentor, Maker, Still Holding the Line and thriving because RELATIONSHIPS matter.

Damn, brother. Very well said. I could never verbally articulate this myself, even though my feelings are exactly the same as yours.

On a lighter note, if I ever need a good script to follow to defend myself when my wife is unjustly berating me, you're the man Im calling!

Nick