Jamie Stover, CDT

Dental lab industry leaders share what they see ahead for the industry in the coming year.

In the current market, communication between the dental lab and dentist is more important than ever.

Many labs are involved in a digital workflow in one way or another. Those involved most likely agree that digital is undoubtedly the future of our industry. From hardware such as scanners and mills in our labs, to the digital acquisition of impressions from chairside scanners in dental practices, we are transitioning away from the old school and experiencing the advantages these technologies offer.

Bench Mastery: Handling Titanium As laboratory technicians, we are constantly made aware of new products and materials, and are subjected to much of the same marketing as dentists. However, we are in the unique position of having to fulfill our dentists’ requests to implement these new materials and discern what is hype and what works well. At the same time, now more than ever, we are under increasing pressure to keep costs down.

In the current market, communication between the dental lab and dentist is more important than ever. Dentists keeping a watchful eye on their overhead are faced with a lab bill every month that’s reflective of the new dental products and materials they’re selecting for their patients.