Voices From The Bench

One of the main points of the podcast is to feature anyone in our industry. Unbiased and uncensored. Too keep a clean rating on podcast apps, we bleep out words considered “bad”. That does not stop us from talking to technicians from around the world no matter their style of communication. When we discovered Sandra Puurits on Instagram, we knew it would be a “bleepful” episode that would be real and hilarious. Sandra didn’t disappoint. Sandra talks about getting into the industry, the state of education in Finland, life in a two-person lab, and being a bada$$ at bleeping everything. Whip Mix (https://www.whipmix.com/) introduces VeriGuide OS (https://www.whipmix.com/products/veriguide-os-dental-resin/), a Class I, CE certified resin material developed for the production of high precision surgical guides for use in dental implant surgery. The new material is formulated for 3D-printing systems (DLP, SLA, and LCD) at both 385 nm and 405 nm. VeriGuide OS™ has been successfully tested for biocompatibility and meet

Come see Elvis at the Preat (https://preat.com/) booth during LMT Lab Day West May 20 - 21 (https://lmtmag.com/lmtlabdaywest) Register for Elvis' course "Using Your Awkwardness to Market Your Lab" (https://lmtmag.com/seminars/using-your-awkwardness-to-market-your-lab-122404) This week brings a great removable technician out of Leicester, UK. Deepa Bharakhda didn't know what she wanted to do with her life. After finding a dental technology course at a university and studying a year in India, Deepa found her passion for removables. She talks about the various labs she has worked at, finding her dream job at Dencraft (https://www.dencraftuk.com/), working directly with patients, and her love for Anaxdent (https://www.anaxusa.com/) composite and the ability to make natural looking dentures. If you want to save, and also grow, Gro3X (https://www.gro3x.com/) is, where you should go! Resins (https://www.gro3x.com/collections/print) to print night guards, for high-impact and flex, look no further, because we have the

When we see unique and interesting labs online, we get to have them on the podcast and talk to them. That is exactly what we did when we saw The Hive (https://www.thehivedental.co.uk/) on Instantgram (https://www.instagram.com/hive_dental_laboratory/). Turns out it owned by Eleanor and Emily Pittard. Together they have created an amazing award winning (really) dental laboratory (https://www.thehivedental.co.uk/the-dentistry-awards-2021/) in Dorset, UK. Emily is a Clinical Dental Technician (think denturist) and Eleanor is the mastermind behind the business and marketing. They talk about creating The Hive, taking it mobile during the pandemic, setting it up to see patients directly, and making sure they are giving back to the environment. If you want to save, and also grow, Gro3X (https://www.gro3x.com/) is, where you should go! Resins (https://www.gro3x.com/collections/print) to print night guards, for high-impact and flex, look no further, because we have them at Gro3X. Burs (https://www.gro3x.com/collectio

Did you miss LMT Lab Day Chicago (https://lmtmag.com/)? Want to feel like you were there? Did you go and want to go back? We do too! This is the next best thing to it. Three amazing conversation we got while at the Preat (https://preat.com/) booth. First up is Randi & Scott James from Renstom Dental Studios (http://www.renstrom.com/) talking about all the growth they have had since the last time we talked to them and what the two are doing while at the show. Then we talk to the ONLY female lab owner in all of Aruba. Lorene Flores, owner of Bio Dental Lab (https://www.biodentallab.info/), is doing big things in the industry on a small exotic island. When she's not hosting Cool FM 98.9 (http://coolaruba.com/), Aruba's hottest radio show, she's always striving to improve and offer products the other labs don't offer. Then we wrap up the whole episode talking to the only removable lab technician at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry (https://dentistry.vcu.edu/), Jennifer Cowherd. Jennifer tal

It is so good to be among our fellow lab friends. After having no show in 2021, LMT Lab Day Chicago (https://lmtmag.com/) happened with a great vibe in 2022. While less people attended, the ones that came where ready to be out and about and many stopped by the Preat (https://preat.com/) booth. This week we talk to four people that attended. First up is wife and husband team from Georgia, Christina and Brian Heaslip (http://www.digitaldentallabs.com/default.html). They talk about working together, presenting together about B & D Dental zirconia (https://www.bnddental.com/zirconia.html), and the upcoming Ladies of the Mill Summit (https://www.ladiesofthemill.com/). Then we talk to Katie Boteler from Aspen Dental (https://www.aspendental.com/). Newish to the industry, Katie talks about working at Affordable Dentures (https://www.affordabledentures.com/), Aspen, and the real reason Katie came to Lab Day. Then we wrap up the episode talking to past guest Jonathan Thompson about the importance of a good CAM softwar

An Angled Approach: 90° Milling with DGSHAPE's C-Clamp Adapter for DWX-52D WEBINAR with Whitney Courtney McCarty and Ian O'Neill (https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_A0wM1gYJQX2klJdW_rxueA?fbclid=IwAR0QOM5PRJvIfZ5niV0QoR_4AzDDGqdZf5Kjyg6QyC6KUwdyBNogl2RDURI) DLAT Southwest Conference and Expo April 1 & 2: Dallas / Fort Worth Airport Mariott (https://members.dlat.org/membership/2022-conference-portal/) Let's do the math. 52 weeks a year. 208th episode. Never missed a week. It's the 4th year anniversary of the podcast! Amazing we are still going and still loving every minute of it. And it wouldn't be a celebration unless we bring back our good friend that was on episode 1 and 52 and 156, Renata Budny. Renata leads the Restorative Dentistry program at the New York City College of Technology. Joining her is past student and now Professor Jamie Rubin. Jamie talks about getting into the program, her experiences going through the classes, and what it's like being in front of the students and working full ti

Every week we talk to technicians that share their journey to where they are today in the in industry. This week we talk to a gentleman whose journey is an interesting one that allowed him to re-light his passion for the industry. Dennis Kalashnick started on the clinical side of dentistry. It didn’t take long for him to discover he liked the laboratory work more. After years of doing Medicaid type dentures, Dennis went off on his own and continued to learn and grow. After a time of thinking about leaving the industry, Dennis found the passion again and is now specializing in full-arch implant work. It’s a journey worth listening to. If you want to save, and also grow, Gro3X (https://www.gro3x.com/) is, where you should go! Resins (https://www.gro3x.com/collections/print) to print night guards, for high-impact and flex, look no further, because we have them at Gro3X. Burs (https://www.gro3x.com/collections/mill) for your mills, Zirconia (https://www.gro3x.com/collections/aidite) for your crowns, with Gro3X

Have you struggled getting out there and getting more work from dental offices? Not every lab has the resources from a sales team, but you can learn a lot from a lab that does. Lauren Crowe came to Blue Box Dental Lab (https://www.blueboxdental.com/) with a lot of clinical experience. Always working hard, Lauren worked her way up to manager and eventually became the Director of Sales for Leixir (https://www.leixir.com/) (a group of 5 labs). Lauren talks getting lab sales, struggles of selling to dentists, selling to DSOs, and how with a team of 13 salespeople, training and providing services and not products. There are 3D Print resins for models that do a decent job, then there is Whip Mix (https://www.whipmix.com/) VeriModel OS. Dr. Michael Scherer, a prosthodontist from Sonora, CA says “Whip Mix VeriModel OS is one of the finest model resins I have ever worked with. It’s amazing”. The popular resins offer the dental laboratory a high quality, smooth surface finish, extreme precision, reliable accuracy, and

Join Elvis and Barb at the DLAT Southwest Conference and Expo March 31 - April 2nd. Good times Texas style in Dallas! (https://members.dlat.org/membership/) Dental technicians spend a lot of time making restorations that match the natural beauty of human teeth. But what if you could make a full arch of gold? What if you could make it so it could be removed and put in at any time? This week talk to Jay Goodman (thecheshiresgrin on Instagram) (https://www.instagram.com/the_cheshires_grin/) from Melbourne Australia who wanted his own grill and decided to find out how to make his own. With some help from a dental technician and a jeweler, Jay now makes many of these grills for famous models and musicians. Jay talks about the process, the materials, and the different types he has made over the years. If you want to save, and also grow, Gro3X (https://www.gro3x.com/) is, where you should go! Resins (https://www.gro3x.com/collections/print) to print night guards, for high-impact and flex, look no further, because

LIVE and IN-PERSON: Elvis Dahl at LMT Lab Day Chicago: Using Your Awkwardness to Market Your Lab Saturday 9:45am - 10:45am Acapulco Room · West Tower, Ballroom (Gold) Level (https://lmtmag.com/seminars/using-your-awkwardness-to-market-your-lab) We love us some labs that have a rich family story behind them. Barksdale Dental Lab (https://barksdaledentallab.com/) is the newest lab to share their family's history. Betty and Steve Barksdale opened their lab in 1980. They made sure two things were always done, good quality work done right and to always treat their technicians like family. Blake Barksdale joined the lab during high school and pushed the lab to improve workflow and efficiency by adapting to digital technology. Betty and Blake talk about the history of the lab, how they find and retain technicians, and name drop all the wonderful people in our industry that has helped along the way. Whip Mix (https://whipmix.com/) is now providing its milling customers with Prima Milling Tools (https://whipmix.com

LIVE and IN-PERSON: Elvis Dahl at LMT Lab Day Chicago: Using Your Awkwardness to Market Your Lab Saturday 9:45am - 10:45am Acapulco Room · West Tower, Ballroom (Gold) Level (https://lmtmag.com/seminars/using-your-awkwardness-to-market-your-lab) Just recently Asiga (https://www.asiga.com/) has set up a North America headquarters and they brought on Cory Lambertson to run it. Cory grew up in a lab and eventually became a technical support manager at Whip Mix (https://www.whipmix.com/), the company that originally brought the Asiga Printer over. Now Cory is running all things Asiga. Cory talks about the history of the printer, why the Asiga stands out above the other printers, how the Asiga printer does some of the amazing things it’s known for, and what’s next for this printing company that is miles ahead of some of the other printers. If you want to save, and also grow, Gro3X (https://www.gro3x.com/) is, where you should go! Resins (https://www.gro3x.com/collections/print) to print night guards, for high-i

Paolo Lubrano was a fully licensed dentist in Italy when he decided he liked the laboratory side of the industry more. Moving to America, he now co-owns a lab (Bespoke Dental Lab) in a dental office doing some amazing full-arch restorations with some top-notch technology. Paolo talks about working with implants, doing chairside crowns, and somehow finds the time to train and participate in triathlons. Whip Mix (https://www.whipmix.com/)’s new VeriEKO LCD printer (https://www.whipmix.com/products/whip-mix-verieko-dental-3d-printer/) sets the bar for high-speed, high-precision 3D printing. You can now print three times faster than other printers, while maximizing print detail and accuracy at 49-micron pixel-size, thanks to the VeriEKO’s 95+% light uniformity and 54 calibrated LEDs. The new printer satisfies all your printing needs with a 120 X 80mm print plate. Print temporary and permanent crowns and bridges, models and dies, surgical guides, splints, custom trays, and even dentures. So if you are in the mark

You know we love stories of second-generation dental technicians and this week we travel up to Canada to talk to an amazing ceramist that is carrying on the family lab. Dani Farago wanted to be a hairdresser and after some encouragement from her parents set off to George Brown College (https://www.georgebrown.ca/programs/dental-technology-program-s100) to learn dental technology. Not yet finding her passion, she continued her education to Japan to get a new perspective on lab work and it was once she picked up the camera, she found her passion for the work she does. See Dani's amazing work on Instagram at 2thmaker_ (https://www.instagram.com/2thmaker_/) If you want to save, and also grow, Gro3X (https://www.gro3x.com/) is, where you should go! Resins (https://www.gro3x.com/collections/print) to print night guards, for high-impact and flex, look no further, because we have them at Gro3X. Burs (https://www.gro3x.com/collections/mill) for your mills, Zirconia (https://www.gro3x.com/collections/aidite) for your

Who better to talk about then yourself? For episode 200, Elvis and Barb have turned the microphones on themselves. When asked “who should be on episode 200", multiple people said it was the hosts turn to sit in the hot seat. They asked a very special friend and the creator of the “Fan of Voices From the Bench (https://www.facebook.com/groups/4141108352651184)” Facebook page, Joe Young from Young Dental Laboratory (https://youngdentallab.com/) in Philadelphia to take over host duties. Temporarily. Joe asks the hard-hitting questions like how they got into the industry, how the podcast came to be, and what have Elvis and Barb learned over the last 199 weeks. Don't worry, they didn't learn much..... Episode 90: Keeping It In The Family: Michael & Joe Young, Jane Hyatt, and Kristen Benitez (https://www.voicesfromthebench.com/90) The Dental Hacks Podcast (http://dentalhacks.com/) The Dental Hacks Podcast episode 06: Mark Jackson (http://dentalhacks.com/podcasts/the-dentalhacks-podcast-episode-06-mark-jackson-and-t

It's no secret that a lot of guests recently have been found because of the amazing dental technician community found on Instagram. If you are on there you definitely know of @thepartyenamel (https://www.instagram.com/thepartyenamel/). It's hard not to know of her because she is great at creating content and bringing the dental lab community even closer. But the person behind the account is Beth Brown. Beth comes on the podcast to talk about getting into the industry, going to a dental university in a hospital, using her Instagram to find her new home at Mango Dental Lab (https://www.facebook.com/mangodental/), and taking the challenge to get her Master's degree in Dental Technology. She's a dental party enamel for sure when it comes to education! Elvis and Barb were right! Schottlander (https://www.schottlander.com/) teeth are not in the US. If you want to save, and also grow, Gro3X (https://www.gro3x.com/) is, where you should go! Resins (https://www.gro3x.com/collections/print) to print night guards, for

VOTE for Voices From the Bench as the 2021 Best Dental Podcast (https://dentalpodcast.org/VOTE-2021/?mc_cid=5351962153&mc_eid&fbclid=IwAR2Rrl0RxcQixo2V-F-7EBJ0eibgi_6bVX12pCtVcbAcQ9SWEIeAY8-8og8) We are back this week talking to a dental technician. Hugo Sousa is a very accomplished technician from the UK. Born and educated in Portugal at a university in Lisbon, Hugo then continued his career in England working for different labs and then obtained his Master's degree in dental technology. He is currently going for his PhD while hosting his own dental laboratory podcast in Portuguese called Conversa à Bancada. Portuguese Podcast - Conversa à Bancada Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/conversa-%C3%A0-bancada/id1564666913 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6464EueS9V1T4MUTAzvzgG?si=4b0f4553e0e44ac2 Facebook - Conversa Bancada - https://www.facebook.com/thefree.tooth/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/conversaabancada/ Long Distance degrees mentioned in the episode: University of Lisb

Let's start 2022 with a different kind of guest. What is a great way to show your passion for dental technology? Denture Babes (https://www.denturebabes.com/) shirt? Tooth decal on your car? How about an amazing denture tattoo? Well we have the perfect guest for you. Ed Johnson is a tattooist out of Portland Oregon who specializes in teeth and denture tattoo. Ed is joined by his dentist father, Dr. Dennis Johnson. They talk about the early days that lead Ed to art and his fascination with teeth. Ed talks about getting into tattooing, the process of giving one of his "patients" a tattoo, and what makes a good tattoo great. If you love teeth and don't have a tattoo, you will want one after this. Check out Ed's Instagram at DentistPDX (https://www.instagram.com/dentistpdx/) If you want to save, and also grow, Gro3X (https://www.gro3x.com/) is, where you should go! Resins (https://www.gro3x.com/collections/print) to print night guards, for high-impact and flex, look no further, because we have them at Gro3X. B

So many great dental lab shows to look forward to in 2022: Vision 21: https://nadl.org/events/v21/2022/ Cal-Lab: https://cal-lab.org/ LMT Lab Day Chicago: https://lmtmag.com/lmtlabday DLAT Southwest Conference: https://members.dlat.org/membership/ FDLA Southern States Expo: https://www.fdla.net/symposium Ladies of the Mill: https://www.ladiesofthemill.com/ This week we are talking to two amazing ladies who came together during the pandemic to open the lab of their dreams. Vicki Thomas and Carolynn Capps come from different laboratory backgrounds but found a common ground with their unique skills they each bring. That’s why they opened up She Designs Dental Studios (https://www.instagram.com/shedesignsdental/?hl=en) in Matthews, North Carolina. This all pink, female owned, and operated lab is different than the labs you usually see out there. Vicki and Carolyn talk about their backgrounds, how they met, and how they put together a different experience for their clients and patients, all under the light of a gi

We told you that the Whip Mix (https://www.whipmix.com/) Digital Forum was amazing! This is the 4th episode we got from the Preat (https://preat.com/) booth talking to so many amazing people. First up is Patrick Strohkirch from Oqton (https://www.oqton.com/). Oqton is a interesting software company that allows AI to nest your mills and prints almost instantly. Then we chat with Tom Houle, who has a great path in our industry on the sales side to end up as the West Coast Digital Technology Specialist for Whip Mix. THEN, stepping away from the Digital Forum, we have a conversation Elvis got while at the Eastern Conference of Dental Laboratories (http://www.eastern-conference.com/index.html) in Winston-Salem, NC. Two students from the Durham Technical College (https://www.durhamtech.edu/), Nathan DiBiase and Nathan Stainnack, that talk about why they got into the dental technology program and where they hope it takes them after. Did you know that most inLab MCX5 users that have ordered burs from Gro3X once, kee

Gingival Artistry for Analogue and Digital Dentures with Nina Frketin - February 10th Webinar (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gingival-artistry-for-analogue-and-digital-dentures-tickets-179391774627?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=escb) Check out her episode on the podcast- 171: Pretty Acrylic In Pink with Nina Frketin (https://www.voicesfromthebench.com/171) We love live events where we get to talk to people face-to-face. At the end of October Elvis and Barb talked to so many people from the Preat (https://preat.com/) booth at the Whip Mix (https://www.whipmix.com/) Digital forum. This week we talk to two technicians that went to the event for two different reasons. First up with Rich Green from B&D Dental Technologies (https://www.bnddental.com/). Rich has been a dental technician is whole career and is now using his experience and expertise to help the industry understand zirconia better by education and a few jokes. Then we chat with Hu