Dental laboratories across the USA and in Canada can now access an industrial milling partner specializing in the precision milling of IPS e.max CAD and Empress CAD restorations. Using Roeders industrial milling equipment including RC3 robotic automation , Diadem Digital Solutions partners with laboratories who forward their digital scan information and restoration designs. With their industrial precision milling equipment, Diadem and its lab partners can now achieve marginal fits of less than 10 micron accuracy.For more information go to : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uza_plpDHucor www.diadem-ids.com
I guess you know by now that I love technology. I'm still a bit skeptical and a bit worried about the investment in wax printing technology at this time. I have not taken the plunge yet myself. I have some experience with wax printing but it is a bit dated (back to my early Brontes days)
There is no question the technology is getting better. The main players in the space seem to be 3D Systems, EnvisionTech and Objet. Take my comments as "anecdotal only" . I talk to many lab owners everyday and the "voice of the customer" tells me at this point in time the technology is still somewhat problematic.
If you decide to take the plunge as a lab owner ( I think the going rate is about between 70 and 80K ) I suggest you really do your homework and a good business plan. You may need an engineer who can keep the equipment running.
Here's what I hear on the street ..."when the equipment runs it is wonderful ! It is not easy equipment to dial in or keep dialed in ! When it breaks the service is not reliable, not quick and not cheap"
That scares me ! That said, I do know a few labs who make this technology work ! They are very good at fixing equipment themselves !
Regarding digital models , while accurate, some pretty smart engineers tell me that milling of models is not scalable. I do believe however that SLA is scalable and it is getting better every day. I hope to offer a service from my center in 2010 but I'm treading carefully. SLA is new technology to our space and it is a very expensive and complicated road to go down.
I've been very interested in the CAD/CAM for some years. I left my lab behind to launch Nobel's Procera Division in North America in 1997 with a small team . The division gre quite quickly - perhaps a little to fast. I learned a great deal about how to scale a business - I made lots of mistakes!
After nearly 20 years in the lab business I knew when I saw the first Procera scanner in 1995 that CAD/CAM would change my life and that of many other lab owners. Many of the lab friends I made, like Ira Dickerson, tell me that Procera actually paved a road for CAD/CAM in the lab segment.
After almost 8 years with Nobel I resigned , moved to Boston and joined 2 young Harvard MBA's to help them build Brontes Technologies. The technology they spun out of MIT was amazing and the idea of digital impressions intrigued me very much. We sold to 3M in 2006 and as part of the deal I moved to Minneapolis, to 3M headquarters and worked with the business development team for 2 years.
My dream, however , was always to build this technology center. The year 2009 was a terrible year to start a new business with the economy at an all time low, but as IPS e.max was getting more traction I felt there was no better time for the launch of a center focused on the precision milling of this product.
I look forward to further discussions.
Ira Dickerman is an old friend ! I'm glad he invited me to this network. I will invite many others to join.
Comments
Nice to meet you - thanks for the comments. We will send you some information.
Mike
I guess you know by now that I love technology. I'm still a bit skeptical and a bit worried about the investment in wax printing technology at this time. I have not taken the plunge yet myself. I have some experience with wax printing but it is a bit dated (back to my early Brontes days)
There is no question the technology is getting better. The main players in the space seem to be 3D Systems, EnvisionTech and Objet. Take my comments as "anecdotal only" . I talk to many lab owners everyday and the "voice of the customer" tells me at this point in time the technology is still somewhat problematic.
If you decide to take the plunge as a lab owner ( I think the going rate is about between 70 and 80K ) I suggest you really do your homework and a good business plan. You may need an engineer who can keep the equipment running.
Here's what I hear on the street ..."when the equipment runs it is wonderful ! It is not easy equipment to dial in or keep dialed in ! When it breaks the service is not reliable, not quick and not cheap"
That scares me ! That said, I do know a few labs who make this technology work ! They are very good at fixing equipment themselves !
Regarding digital models , while accurate, some pretty smart engineers tell me that milling of models is not scalable. I do believe however that SLA is scalable and it is getting better every day. I hope to offer a service from my center in 2010 but I'm treading carefully. SLA is new technology to our space and it is a very expensive and complicated road to go down.
I've been very interested in the CAD/CAM for some years. I left my lab behind to launch Nobel's Procera Division in North America in 1997 with a small team . The division gre quite quickly - perhaps a little to fast. I learned a great deal about how to scale a business - I made lots of mistakes!
After nearly 20 years in the lab business I knew when I saw the first Procera scanner in 1995 that CAD/CAM would change my life and that of many other lab owners. Many of the lab friends I made, like Ira Dickerson, tell me that Procera actually paved a road for CAD/CAM in the lab segment.
After almost 8 years with Nobel I resigned , moved to Boston and joined 2 young Harvard MBA's to help them build Brontes Technologies. The technology they spun out of MIT was amazing and the idea of digital impressions intrigued me very much. We sold to 3M in 2006 and as part of the deal I moved to Minneapolis, to 3M headquarters and worked with the business development team for 2 years.
My dream, however , was always to build this technology center. The year 2009 was a terrible year to start a new business with the economy at an all time low, but as IPS e.max was getting more traction I felt there was no better time for the launch of a center focused on the precision milling of this product.
I look forward to further discussions.
Ira Dickerman is an old friend ! I'm glad he invited me to this network. I will invite many others to join.
I really enjoyed your youtube video. What are your thoughts regarding wax printers, the good, the bad
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next