Just prior to Christmas, Ricki Braswell, CAE, co-executive director of NADL, called inviting me to participate in a panel discussion regarding the impact of digital impressions on the dental laboratory industry. The call caused some anxious moments at Brontes Technologies.

As a small, Start-up Company in the late developmental stages of a product that will enable digital impression-taking at the dentist’s office and ultimately mass customization at the dental laboratory, we’ve attempted to keep a low profile about our company for the time being.  Nonetheless, I cautiously agreed to participate in the panel.

Having spent the past 30 years in the dental business, primarily laboratory related, I know as well as most of you, there tends to be a great deal of over promising that goes on in the dental marketplace. The introduction of so much new technology in a short period of time has created a positioning nightmare for new all-ceramic restorations and CAD/CAM systems.  The last thing we wanted at Brontes was to get into a product positioning discussion on the NADL podium. However, I believe so strongly in digital impression taking that I wanted to share my vision to my friends and colleagues.

It was great for me to see so many of my old friends with whom I have been out of touch during the past 24 months. Following a great 10 years with Nobel Biocare, helping launch Procera in North America and later as vice president of marketing, I finally made my way back home to Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I thought I would finish my career there just nosing around in my son’s laboratory business.

The invitation to become a part of a new start-up company, Brontes Technologies, was far too intriguing to turn down. I am extremely excited about our technology, particularly because I believe the introduction of digital impressions will impact the laboratory business in a very positive way.

The results from the most recent LMT survey, polling laboratory owners about the biggest challenges they face with incoming work from dentists, was a great segue into a discussion about digital impressions. When asked about the biggest problems facing their laboratories, 59 percent of participants listed inadequate impressions and 42 percent listed inadequate tooth preparations.

David Nakanishi, CDT, from Nakanishi Dental Lab and Gary Maxon from D4D were my co-panelists. The interest in digital impressions was keen and the audience participation was energetic and invigorating. The ensuing feedback from the attendants and the team from NADL were excellent!

Predicting the impact of digital impressions on the laboratory business, like any discussion surrounding new technology, was an exercise in the art of the crystal ball!  Some of the implications, however, seem pretty evident and therefore, quite exciting.  My fellow panelists and most of the audience agreed there would be a meaningful impact. Most agreed that improved accuracy and consistency should result in fewer remakes, which should improve profitability.

Panelists agreed on other potential impacts too:

    * Improved collaboration between dentist and laboratory.
    * Improved tooth preparation - dentists can see tooth preps in 3D.
    * Improved time frames - no shipping impressions to the laboratory.
    * Labor cost reduction - addressing the current shortage of dental technicians.
    * Digital impressions should streamline use of CAD/CAM technologies if the industry can convince manufacturers to open their proprietary software and move to open data standards.
    * High-tech dentistry is typically of lower value to offshore laboratory offerings - offshore typically is all about lower pricing, hence a high tech, high esthetic product offering combined with unique collaboration tools between laboratory and dentist should allow North American laboratories to compete effectively on value instead of price!

I found the panel discussions around the obstacles laboratory owners may face quite interesting. In my opinion, those laboratory owners willing to embrace and celebrate change could turn many of the obstacles that were discussed into competitive advantages.

While outsourcing was discussed as a potential obstacle, I believe it will open the door for small laboratories to play in the digital world. Once digital, an impression will have many options for output. Laboratory owners will be faced with two choices: outsource or invest in capital equipment.

I cautioned laboratory owners not to get caught in paradigm paralysis! Stay abreast of the new technology, embrace it and become the expert. I’m certainly not advocating a buy decision, but make a decision to be involved and as an expert and partner with your dentist clients as they integrate this new technology. The most important resources for participation may be time and commitment, not money. As laboratory owner, I recommend you identify a champion for digital dentistry in your laboratory or hire one!

I shared an analogy from Brontesí CEO Eric Paley, regarding similar transitions in other industries: “Remember life before digital cameras?  Remember waiting to get photos back only to find many of the pictures were not very good. In the digital world you instantly know whether you have a good picture and one sweep of your mouse today eliminates red eye and enhances the output from your camera.” Digital impressions should enable instant quality control and on the fly improvements to tooth preps and impressions long before the final restoration is started. Most importantly those changes can take place without disrupting the patient, dental practice or laboratory!

How will digital impression taking change the role of the technician? In another example, we compared the potential transition to a change that was felt in the graphic design industry in the past several years. Not that long ago, a graphic artist used a canvas and a brush or pens to artfully design logos, ad layouts, etc. Today, graphic artists use computers stocked with libraries of default images, fonts and pictures as a starting point for creating amazing digital designs. I see the technician of the near future enabled in the same manner.

The audience at the conference wondered how could we prepare our technicians who are accustomed to working in the physical/tactile realm?

The panel agreed the technician of the future is:

    * Computer friendly.
    * Needs good spatial aptitude - thinks and designs in 3D.
    * Needs to understand restoration design and the options available.
    * More than ever, technicians will need to be excellent communicators as collaboration between dentist and laboratory improves.

Today many technicians view CAD/CAM as a threat to their future. Education is paramount in achieving buy-in by your team.  Involve and inform your technicians as you go down the successful road to implementing change.

Regardless of the size, I highly recommend development, careful analysis and execution of a strategic plan for your laboratory. The plan should include due diligence around the decision to invest in capital equipment versus a decision to outsource.

Further, a detailed analysis of your client base should play an important role in your decision-making. Identify your early adopters (clients who buy the latest and greatest new technologies - you know who they are - the gadget lovers!) and analyze how their behavior and buying decisions may impact your laboratory.

In summary, in a business concerned about threats of offshore laboratories’ influence, labor shortages, continued laboratory consolidation and rapid technological progress, laboratory owners not currently equipped with the mindset to adapt may find themselves in a precarious position in the coming years.

Remember, avoid paradigm paralysis - embrace and celebrate the coming of improved technology, but do your homework. Use the technology, don’t let it use you. Improved accuracy, more predictability, and fewer remakes mean laboratory savings, increased profitability and better value for customers! Isn’t it about time?