lol no its not a threat at all.
lab based machines are dumbed down a long way, made to be very automated, and are only designed to handle specific applications.
the only threat to companies like straumann is advancement in implants that are both open source, free to develop, and easy to produce.
however as we all know those kinds of words will not fly well in medical applications. things need certifications, labels, and stickers with approvals. and thats a great thing because it means we lab rats don't face patient lawsuits the same way doctors and dentists do. we can keep above board and be protected for life.
with developing your own brands theres a way to do it that doesnt involve creating products new to the industry; you can create a brand name and logo and stamp it on everything from the product you sell to the salesperson selling it. i recently got a golf shirt and fall jacket with our logo on it. i wear it to sales calls.
getting off track here...
the big DMG machines arent the ones mass producing the thousands of implants that get placed per year; no those are made in a much different environment. but a company like straumann would buy and use that kind of machine not to grind 98mm discs but develop all the proprietary holders and material blocks for a new kind of material. so for example the Cerec people might have used a DMG to mill the first few material blocks and holders for the initial run of emax. it might have done this 5, 6, 7 times in various iterations, reducing cost and time and creating streamlines at each iteration.
thats what you use the DMG for.
not making a metric ton of crowns.
