Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
Latest activity
Articles
Members
Current visitors
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Lab talk, the good, the bad, and the ugly
3D Printer
This may be my last thread.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Scott Bradley" data-source="post: 296815" data-attributes="member: 21128"><p>Building a digital lab is a totally different beast than an analog lab. The problem with most dental labs trying to get into digital dentistry is that they think they can pull someone off the street and teach them how to design a crown in a couple of hours and then they are shocked when things start to go south on them. Also they have a porcelain tech grind, stain and glaze the crowns, thus negating the benefit of going digital. A weekend warrior tech is the Achilles heal of digital dentistry. Yeah they can design crowns, but you are going to be doing a LOT of finish work. I have worked in several places and trained under some very good technicians (both digital and analog) and have just celebrated the first anniversary of my own dental lab.</p><p>I work solo and so I don't have the time for failures. I am able to easily scan, design, finish and glaze 10-12 crowns a day. The trick is that you have to print models and mill your own crowns. Also I use Katana Zirconia so for 95% of cases I don't have to worry about staining them. The only problem with that is that you need a large stock of zirconia on hand. I get on average 23 units per disc. I have doctors comment on how they look better than the emax crowns they used to get from their other labs. Waxing and pressing Emax used to be my forte. No more! </p><p> I buy Sierra Tools for my mill and only buy diamond. The burrs are $145 each but the last time I switched them out I had done over 900 crowns on the set, making the cost per unit on burrs to be around 35 cents. Printing models to check the contacts is also something I do and I have gotten the resin cost per model down to $.50. I do about 95% of my finish work while the zirconia is it's green state using Matrix Shapers I get from Henry Schein. Those are AWESOME, I trim sprues and thin margins. Just don't buy the green and white ones. They are green and I think a medium grit. The green and white ones include a fine white tip to them and they each cost as much as 5 of the green burs (around $35) and I have not found any benefit in using the fine tool on my crowns.</p><p>I am fully digital and lower my cost to dentists while still maintaining a good profit margin. I did a full lab costing for my business and have added the price of everything into my crowns down to the garbage bag that I replace every other week. I am able to have a significantly lower price than other labs in the area and still maintain a good profit. I also have a 3 day turnaround on my crowns which is very attractive to dentists. I could easily triple my output if I could find another tech who is trained well in digital design.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Scott Bradley, post: 296815, member: 21128"] Building a digital lab is a totally different beast than an analog lab. The problem with most dental labs trying to get into digital dentistry is that they think they can pull someone off the street and teach them how to design a crown in a couple of hours and then they are shocked when things start to go south on them. Also they have a porcelain tech grind, stain and glaze the crowns, thus negating the benefit of going digital. A weekend warrior tech is the Achilles heal of digital dentistry. Yeah they can design crowns, but you are going to be doing a LOT of finish work. I have worked in several places and trained under some very good technicians (both digital and analog) and have just celebrated the first anniversary of my own dental lab. I work solo and so I don't have the time for failures. I am able to easily scan, design, finish and glaze 10-12 crowns a day. The trick is that you have to print models and mill your own crowns. Also I use Katana Zirconia so for 95% of cases I don't have to worry about staining them. The only problem with that is that you need a large stock of zirconia on hand. I get on average 23 units per disc. I have doctors comment on how they look better than the emax crowns they used to get from their other labs. Waxing and pressing Emax used to be my forte. No more! I buy Sierra Tools for my mill and only buy diamond. The burrs are $145 each but the last time I switched them out I had done over 900 crowns on the set, making the cost per unit on burrs to be around 35 cents. Printing models to check the contacts is also something I do and I have gotten the resin cost per model down to $.50. I do about 95% of my finish work while the zirconia is it's green state using Matrix Shapers I get from Henry Schein. Those are AWESOME, I trim sprues and thin margins. Just don't buy the green and white ones. They are green and I think a medium grit. The green and white ones include a fine white tip to them and they each cost as much as 5 of the green burs (around $35) and I have not found any benefit in using the fine tool on my crowns. I am fully digital and lower my cost to dentists while still maintaining a good profit margin. I did a full lab costing for my business and have added the price of everything into my crowns down to the garbage bag that I replace every other week. I am able to have a significantly lower price than other labs in the area and still maintain a good profit. I also have a 3 day turnaround on my crowns which is very attractive to dentists. I could easily triple my output if I could find another tech who is trained well in digital design. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Who do we work for?
Post reply
Forums
Lab talk, the good, the bad, and the ugly
3D Printer
This may be my last thread.
Top
Bottom