Is it worth it to get a printer?

[Denturion]

Hey ya'll,
Where I am at is
I run my own removable lab on my own. I manage about 200 arches a month. It is a mix of mostley premium cases and some medicaid, I have 4 clients and some of them may be interested in trying out scanning cases.
I am wondering if it would be worth the money and time to get a printer for models and maybe some medicade dentures and partials. I dont see that materials are ready for competing with anything
would I be saving time designing and printing?
I do plan on hiring and growing next year and could see me implementing some of the digital tech in my analog work.
Clients are happy with how things are now some are just asking questions and I wouldnt want to be left be

 

[Rtyrelw]

I think it's definitely worth it with where you're at. There's a lot of possibility to grow because of the future potential of 3D printing even if it's not quite here yet with the quality of the 3D printed dentures. Personally I don't 3D print ensures because I think they cost more in remakes and the ability to make them look good takes more time than it's worth. You can polish a piece of turd as many times as you want and it's still a piece of turd.
That being said I do 3D print models for digital the downside as you will still have to duplicate those models. Because you can't process straight to the printed model.
Other things that you can do with your printer though would also be very good. You can print temporary for things like flippers and those are not bad considering their temporary. Night guards are so easy with 3D printed that it's not even funny. The future of 3D printing is what I would keep in mind though. Look at something like anesica that has an open system so that when a good resin comes out you can adapt it to your workflow and not have to have a specific printer such as a Sprint Ray or an Einstein

 

[rkm rdt]

More dentists are switching to an IOS so you need to get on board ASAP.
Partial dentures are a breeze since bite blocks are unnecessary and frames fit better and are laser melted. Yes you have to dupe the printed model but you finish the case on the original and not the dupe.

 

[bigj1972]

Hey ya'll,
Where I am at is
I run my own removable lab on my own. I manage about 200 arches a month. It is a mix of mostley premium cases and some medicaid, I have 4 clients and some of them may be interested in trying out scanning cases.
I am wondering if it would be worth the money and time to get a printer for models and maybe some medicade dentures and partials. I dont see that materials are ready for competing with anything
would I be saving time designing and printing?
I do plan on hiring and growing next year and could see me implementing some of the digital tech in my analog work.
Clients are happy with how things are now some are just asking questions and I wouldnt want to be left be

Just realize your not buying another piece of equipment like a new press, but are creating a new manufacturing process in your workday to learn, succeed , fail, relearn.

 

[Flipperlady]

Hey ya'll,
Where I am at is
I run my own removable lab on my own. I manage about 200 arches a month. It is a mix of mostley premium cases and some medicaid, I have 4 clients and some of them may be interested in trying out scanning cases.
I am wondering if it would be worth the money and time to get a printer for models and maybe some medicade dentures and partials. I dont see that materials are ready for competing with anything
would I be saving time designing and printing?
I do plan on hiring and growing next year and could see me implementing some of the digital tech in my analog work.
Clients are happy with how things are now some are just asking questions and I wouldnt want to be left be

There are no right or wrong answers on this. Personally I like new technology but would not be quick to use or buy it, I like to wait for all of the bugs to be worked out as manufacturers rush out new things hoping techs will troubleshoot it for them. Most dentists are of the mind if it isn't broken don't fix it so they are slow to adapt new things as well ,with the exception if it helps productivity and they can't find a decent lab. If it was me I would start preparing for the future, practice and see if any of your clients are willing to work with you while you get educated and practice. I wouldn't spend lots of money on this just yet. That said that's my opinion, there are those who do very well going right in.

 

[LuthorCorp]

I think the shared sentiment by most is that the industry is going more and more digital so unless you adapt early you will find yourself losing work just because of accessibility. Some doctors will take the plunge and switch to full digital and soon enough won't even be able to take physical impressions, the flip side the advantages with digital give you more flexibility and options for expansion or even just improving your current process.

All in all a good idea but also be warned its not plug and play no matter what any sales rep tells you. Take the time to learn how the system works and its limitations before you roll it out to clients. Getting caught not understanding the limitations of the machine or not fully understanding it will cripple you harder than not having one in the first place.

 

[rkm rdt]

I hope more of my competitors sit on the fence for a few more years.

 

[zero_zero]

I hope more of my competitors sit on the fence for a few more years.

How's your retirement plans going ?

 

[bigj1972]

I'd be more interested to hear how you get 200 arches out a month by yourself..

 

[kimba]

I'd be more interested to hear how you get 200 arches out a month by yourself..

I was trying to figure that out myself.

 

[rkm rdt]

How's your retirement plans going ?

Canadians can’t afford to retire.

 

[tuyere]

Just realize your not buying another piece of equipment like a new press, but are creating a new manufacturing process in your workday to learn, succeed , fail, relearn.

I think the shared sentiment by most is that the industry is going more and more digital so unless you adapt early you will find yourself losing work just because of accessibility. Some doctors will take the plunge and switch to full digital and soon enough won't even be able to take physical impressions, the flip side the advantages with digital give you more flexibility and options for expansion or even just improving your current process.

All in all a good idea but also be warned its not plug and play no matter what any sales rep tells you. Take the time to learn how the system works and its limitations before you roll it out to clients. Getting caught not understanding the limitations of the machine or not fully understanding it will cripple you harder than not having one in the first place.

I would say that, yes, you should absolutely get a printer, especially if you're running your own lab- it's probably the single most powerful tool available to you, in terms of the doors it opens and the labour it can save, and you can get started for maybe a thousand dollars all in, minus resin.
But! the above two posts are critical- this is an entirely new manufacturing technique, and you'll need to develop a robust understanding of the mechanics involved to deal with print quality issues and to get the best possible prints with the fewest failures. You will pay an enormous mark-up to access dental product support vs. learning how to deal with stuff yourself, and frankly printing isn't actually particularly complicated to become proficient with, so if you're on a budget and are willing to learn and make some mistakes, I very strongly recommend starting with a "prosumer" entry-level printer like a Phrozen. It's 95% of the way to a 20k printer in terms of quality and accuracy, and you can use almost all the same resins on it as you can on commerical machines, even fun new stuff like nanoceramic resins for crowns, sports mouthguard and nightguard resins, printable wax, etc .

 

[Denturion]

I'd be more interested to hear how you get 200 arches out a month by yourself..

200 is busy. I have a labe downstairs at home. So some late nights and weekends. My hands hurt lol. I've been trying to hire someone but nothing successful. So I'm going to get a robot to do some work.

 

[Affinity]

My printer cost $400 and its as good as anything ive outsourced, buy one and get crackin. Its worth it just to play around with to get a feel.

 

[rkm rdt]

 

[Denture Dude]

200 units a month from one guy? Impressive. I’m hard pressed to push 50.

 

[Flipperlady]

200 units a month from one guy? Impressive. I’m hard pressed to push 50.

40 to 50 sound more like it.

 

[Denturion]

I'm getting the feeling that I am overdoing it. Should I stop working so hard then?

 

[Denturion]

My printer cost $400 and its as good as anything ive outsourced, buy one and get crackin. Its worth it just to play around with to get a feel.

What did you get? Great profile Picture by the way

 

[bigj1972]

I'm getting the feeling that I am overdoing it. Should I stop working so hard then?

Absolutely. Get outta debt, save a big chunk, then be the boutique guy that charges too much, takes too long,
but he's the only one we can call to fix the other labs work.