Restorations Du Jour

[dmonwaxa]

Great looking stuff Al. .... Thanks

 

[Al.]

Great looking stuff Al. .... Thanks

Thanks.

 

[Al.]

Are those cad Al ?? just kidding

A Winner for sure

No cad, the new Muilti ingots press and stain.

 

[dmonwaxa]

Press and stain? Wow those look awesome, had me fooled I thought the were layered.

 

[Al.]

Press and stain? Wow those look awesome, had me fooled I thought the were layered.

No no they are layered. Just giving Charles a hard time

 

[Al.]

Actually the lower anteriors and two bicuspids not part of the bridge are press and stain. BL4 HT

 

[Al.]

Press and stain? Wow those look awesome, had me fooled I thought the were layered.

Here you go this is press and stained with LP. Got most of them in one color coat then did a 2nd glaze bake.
Emax HT A1

 

[Tayebdental]

Good work Al. What pressing furnace do you have?.

 

[Al.]

Good work Al. What pressing furnace do you have?.

I have ivoclar older ep 600 combi and a ep 3000

Full upper

 

[dmonwaxa]

Just absolutely Lovely Al.

 

[Al.]

Thanks Dmonwaxa.

I think the labs rushing to make stuff like the new multi ingots work for them so they can make a better press and stain crown are potentially accelerating their own demise.

The labs are going to tweek this and next Ivoclar will make this in blocks to sell directly to Drs to mill chair side. There are guys working on real nice sets of acrylic shells that can be set on preps. Beautiful anterior contours and shapes in different sizes. They will scan them, scan the preps than mill emax multi blocks so easy and fast with beautiful contours.

If the dr doesn't want to mill their own they will put these beautiful shells on, scan them than send the file off to Ivoclars milling center and receive there milled and glazed crowns in a box 4 days later.

I'm just saying cheap and fast press/mill and stain orgy's may be working now but in 10 years ????

I have chosen to try and specialize in making custom restorations for job security. It doesn't take much extra effort especially if you get paid for it.

 

[TheLabGuy]

Well said Al!!! This should be the business model for a lot of us on here.

 

[JohnWilson]

In 10 years we will not be doing singles the way we are today. Maximizing you potential today and utilizing technology should be everyone's focus. A business path is constantly changing and following trends can be expensive. How we worked 10 years ago and how we work today is 100% different, at least in my lab.

While I will not debate that our vendors are our biggest threat in the future, positioning yourself to allow yourself to be there in 10 years is more important as I see it.

Ivoclar /EMAX is looking for another resurgence with the "multi" since ZI has taken a big bite out of their market share. I do not see it as a bad thing it gives me something else to market which is something we are always looking for.

Al your a humble guy you think anyone can do your level of work and that is just not the case. Can we all improve upon what we produce in the lab by putting in additional effort? Absolutely. What most techs can not do is have the vision to produce the level of artistry that you show on this site. I know where my labs skill set is, I know where I am most profitable. I know where I am headed and how much longer I plan to stay in this game. The uncertainty is not to be feared its to be embraced but we all must have a contingency plan when things do not go as we think it will. What I seem to find true is that most lab owners seldom look past what is in front of them and make any realistic plans but to finish before the due date.

I was reading in another thread where someone mentioned that some people that post here may be "talking down to them", I don't see it that way. I think guys that share on this site and others are doing so for the pure love of what they do. Why else would we share??

There are a ton of ways to skin a cat, but having the right knowledge is worthless with out the tool to implement your skill.

Just something to ponder...

 

[CoolHandLuke]

the 2015 i know and understand will be implementing this year's 3d printing kickstarts. 2015's kickstarts are already going to be ahead of the curve.

given the internet, copyright, and telecom legal pursuits i think maybe the 2016-17 pursuits of porcelain printers may be stifled. free internet drives innovation. protected copyright stifles creativity. tapped telecom stifles entrepreneurs.

i think before this decade finishes we'll be into another technical paradigm shift.

 

[Dentalmike]

Definitely don't want to depend on skills relying on specific materials. It was sad to see what digital did to a local high quality film lab. Now some of the best films aren't made any more. So, I don't want to only be great with a material and technique that's no longer possible. There was a time that I thought and probably said I would never press. Lol.

 

[CoolHandLuke]

that is an excellent parallel, mike. it highlights the fact that even after modern film stopped being film, it is still a matter of highly skilled CGI workers, and acting and motion capture, and directing.

it has given them the flexibility to play around with more dramatic and visually intense scripts.

 

[Al.]

Ill be 56 next week so 15 years from now ill be 71.
So my time is limited. I've tried sharing to help some of the next generation coming up.

I see so many that don't get basic contours correct. Line angles and incisal edges teeth arrangements etc.
so much more people could improve on with only a little effort.

 

[mcfly]

Happy Next week AL ,ill already learnt tons from you.True inspiration and thanks for sharing!

 

[Drizzt]

Ill be 56 next week so 15 years from now ill be 71.
So my time is limited. I've tried sharing to help some of the next generation coming up.

I see so many that don't get basic contours correct. Line angles and incisal edges teeth arrangements etc.
so much more people could improve on with only a little effort.

I totally agree with Al on this . Learn the basic stuff first . I am 29 , and most guys my age that ask me questions like , how to do this or that , don't spend time on e.g. waxing . They just want to build porcelain like the big masters , and they can't even contour a molar . Learn it in wax , and then you can make it in porcelain . At least this is how it worked for me .

If you know the basics you can also design things easier and better in CAD , than other guys who don't know .

 

[Tayebdental]

You ladies and gentlemen project a lot of wisdom regarding this trade, Al, drizzit, John and many others are still young compared to me.

This trade has changed so much in the last 10 years, I was resistant to go digital but now I am glad I did , now I have more free time to injoy the time with my family and friends.

John's business plan and projection for the future is sound, but what ever we plan and think we are in control we are actuly not, because we are human beings and very vernable and our time is limited.

Yes this trade has changed . As father of a son who is a dentist and a second son who is in school studying dental medicine, I see it first hand is the dental school tuition that is astronomicaly high and rising,( $100.000 a year) these young graduates with a lot of student loans and dept propelled to send thier lab work to cheap labs ( Low fees) to help pay for thier student loans . Gone are the days when you send your son or daughter to an affordable dental school with an affordable laons.

So this is the trend I am seeing, very few dentists demand the high quality lab work that we used to see years ago, because many of the new dental graduates are not willing to pay for it.., therefore more of the competing Low fee labs will exist and spread.