Digital Impressions, CAD/CAM and Dental Materials Rule the Day at the LMT Dental Meeting

 

CAD/CAM dentistry ruled the day at the latest LMT dental meeting in Chicago. Vendors stacked up against one another with machines buzzing everywhere demonstrating the latest in dental CAD/CAM systems and software for copings crowns and abutments as well as the digital impression systems and dental mills and printers used to get the data and make the restorations. Materials such as zirconia, from all the brands you know, eMax and other monolitihics all put their game face on and their most esthetic foot forward as build up brushes and dipping pots watched from the sidelines, or should I say side aisle.  

It was too much for one room alone and so the “big boys” packed every other meeting room at the hotel. Ivoclar with it’s cool neon theme showcased eMax as well as all provided all the information needed to make it either by mill, press, layer or otherwise. See the eMax CAD vs eMax Press article here.

3M partied hard with their big room and demonstrated their new DVS (Digital Veneering System). With it labs can mill both Lava copings and full contour tops in semi-fired ceramic to go on top. I did not see it, but I heard they also had a small Lava milling machine for around $50,000.

Dentsply demonstrated their Compartis SmartSourcing solution of which we are a part through ISUS. Through Compartis SmartSourcing, labs can access virtually any restoration they need including zirconia and precious metal copings, completed dental restorations through Prident, and ISUS bars and bridges of which we are their US distribution partner.

From the halls you could pick up the subtle, yet distinctively present, looming red glow of the Nobel Biocare room. Once inside you could see and talk about the benefits of their latest partnership announcements including those of Ivoclar for eMax and other products, Vita and Noritake. Oh yeah, I think I saw some implant products in the room too ; )

Straumann was also very hot in Chicago coming off the heels of a new announcement…more below.

I know Zahn had a room somewhere, I just did not know where. And 3Shape had a lecture going on about the new capabilities of their D700 scanner and CAD software. I wanted to go, but I just could not get to in time. There has been a bit of talk about the open CAD/CAM scanner battle and there were many companies on that front to talk with. There were a lot of new entrants into the field of dental scanners in addition to 3Shape, LaserDenta,and DentalWings which are always a staple in the discussion.

I was amazed to see all the intraoral scanners as well.  The majors we know of - Lava COS, Cadent with iTero, Sirona Blue CAM and now D4D Sky, and a host of new ones most had never heard of. There was a lot of talk about these intraoral scanners, the penetration they’ve already had on the market and how they eliminate they could eliminate the need for a lab scanner all together. Personally, I think the lab scanner is still important, but I can see where others think otherwise. Realistically, if the intraoral scanner can send directly to a CAD system, you don’t need a scanner. Also, if the intraoral scanner cannot send directly to a CAD platform, then you can simply send to a model printer and fabricate your restoration from there.

Speaking of intraoral impressions and digital workflow. Straumann now announced you can get eMax CAD through them and their ES1 Etkon software will now accept digital scans directly from Cadent iTero. So, as mentioned above, now not even a scanner is required to get the restoration. Your doc takes the digitial impression and the data is sent for a model and eMax crown. Both parts are returned to you where you fine tune the crown and deliver it to the doc.  

I spoke at CAL  Lab about the topic of intraoral impressions and the changes in the lab business model they bring about. The title of my presentation was From Licking Brushes to Meaning Business (link at end of this article). It was about how dental lab owners and managers need to start thinking more about their business and where they see themselves than ever before. I estimate I have about 80 hours of work in building the presentation, so if you’re a dental study club, meeting or otherwise and would like me to come present it for you, please let me know at info@daledental.com. CAL Lab had a few hundred at the presentation and I did it at Gordon Christensen and Bill Yancy’s Lab Summit meeting of about 30. I typically prefer to present to at least 100, but I am open to any group size…maybe just pay travel expenses if under 100.

Anyway, back to the LMT meeting. Another big, and I think important takeaway, was the fact that there was little talk about improving product quality unless it was directly related to the resolution a scanner can see at or precision a milling machine can achieve. I have always lectured that there are three facets to a dental crown dentists buy from their labs – not including the customer service, technical support and related “value adds”: They are fit, function and esthetics. Sadly it seems that little thought or emphasis is given equally to all of these with “function” likely coming in dead last.

In fact I think the only time I heard the word “function” was in people asking which “function” they’d be at that night. While perhaps sad, the question was sounded with good reason…because there were just so many “functions” to choose from.

Dentsply rented out the Industrial Science Museum, Nobel the Hard Rock and Ivoclar the Four Seasons. That’s in addition to Jensen’s party at the Swissotel, WhipMix sponsoring a party at Carsons and probably no less than 50 others.

In all, there was a lot to see and do. I was there Tuesday through Sunday without much of a break in between. I did have time however to see and talk with Judy Fishman, President and Founder of LMT magazine and without whom there would be no LMT meeting to write about. If you have not met Judy before, I will tell you she is amazing. Her success as a publisher is only rivaled by her success as a person. I’ve enjoyed getting to know Judy pretty well over the last 10 years and her ability to build the best meeting in the dental lab business throughout the US comes as absolutely no surprise to me.

I think one of her secrets is that she is a lot like the people she publishes for. Like the labs she serves, Judy is not corporate, she’s sincere and good hearted and, at the end of the day, just wants to do a good job and spend time with the people she loves.

When going to Chicago, you’ll also get to see a lot of industry favorites including Azzara brothers and their team from Captek including “the one, the only…Dr Dean Mersky.” They seem to be left out of CAD/CAM technology conversations lately, but I guess that’s because Captek doesn’t need no “stinkin’ CAD/CAM technology.” Truth is Captek is a product that’s done amazingly well virtually unchanged from its very start…kind of like teeth themselves.  

My fingers are getting tired and I want to get this posted in a timely fashion. I am going to post it as is, so pardon any errors and I will likely post some additional articles shortly.

You can learn more about my presentation From Licking Brushes to Meaning Business here.

 

Best,
Dave

Tagged as: 3M, 3Shape, Blue Cam, Cadent, CAL Lab, Captek, Compartis, D4D, Dale Dental, David Lesh, dentsply, digital impression, emax, ivoclar, Lava, Lava COS, Lava DVS, LMT, Nobel Biocare, Sirona, zirconia