That's Life: Seeing Red About Green
That's Life: Seeing Red About Green
While strolling the exhibits at the recent medical device manufacturing show, I pondered once again how fast technology is changing, and just how fast the gap is closing between other industries and dental technology. You see, we have always been the quiet little cottage industry that takes away the scraps and bit left behind by major manufacturers. The rapid prototyping industry has infiltrated ours, and we are being overrun with milling systems and scanners from all over the world. It’s almost too hard to keep up with them. It’s easier to track the block manufacturers than the people who cut them.
Every once in a while, I am reminded of a guest editorial I wrote for the French dental journal, Dental Technologies, in 1997. I caught a lot of flack for it because at the time I predicted that milling machines would be a passing fad, and that they would simply be a small stepping stone to other technologies. I boldly stated that I would never buy one. Fast forward a decade or more, and my laboratory is filled with buzzing and humming milling machines, and we are working with models milled from urethane blocks.
But I’m a reluctant believer at best.
Recent articles show that natural and environmentally friendly messages resonate with consumers and thousands of new products introduced at this year’s show rely on those attributes in both product and package marketing to help boost sales. Everybody, it seems is going green, and this may be more than a social or moralistic phenomena. California has been a leader in creating both local and state jurisdictions that rely on increasingly stringent green guides. Our air and water quality standards produced landmark legislation such as California Prop 65, which resulted in the following notice accompanying our non-precious metal crowns: WARNING, this crown contains nickel, chrome and berrylium. Materials known to the State of California to cause cancer or reproductive harm. Those with a known sensitivity should avoid its use. Please contact us for low cost alternatives to non-precious metals.”
So what does this have to do with milling and new technology?
I stand behind my earlier statement regarding milling. It’s a ridiculously wasteful method of manufacturing and is so inefficient as to be almost irresponsible. If milling were an effective method of manufacturing, they would jack hammer houses from giant blocks of concrete. Almost 100 percent, 97 percent to be exact, of the raw materials go down the vacuum tube and an obscene amount of energy and tooling is consumed just to cut away the waste. Sure, other industries use milling and CNC operations, but in almost every one, the waste products are recycled, not tossed out with the coffee grounds. Definitely not green technology.
I’m far from being a global warming fanatic (or is it climate change now?), but I am concerned about the efficiency of my operations, and I am also very cognizant of waste, especially when the cost of materials is about to overtake my labor costs as my greatest expense. I for one welcome the day when we see truly green additive technologies such as 3D printing of ceramics and thixotropic resins take the place of these blasted milling machines. I never wanted one in the first place!
