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The history of cad-cam and “digital technology”
at Issaquah Dental Lab started with Procera in 1997.
We like many other Labs had an in house scanner installed and
sent our copings out via internet to have them fabricated and then sent
back.
The love of technology and a talent for researching
what’s new has taken us down the road we are on today, not only as
Issaquah Dental Lab but also as our newest endeavor, Issaquah Milling
Center.
We have looked at every cad-cam system that has
come on the market. When 3M
Lava was introduced it seemed like the fit we had been waiting for.
We started working with lava by using the 3M milling center in
November of 2002. As we
continued to see a consistency in the product and a fit and margins that
were beyond our expectations, Larry one of our owners made a personal
trip to 3M to see for himself how they were accomplishing this. That
trip was a turning point for us. We
found in Lava a product that was predictable in fit, margins, had 8
shades and had the same light transmission as natural dentition. We
purchased our first system in May of 2003 and had our third system
installed in June of 2004. Larry continues with a passion to research
every new type of technology including those outside of our industry. He
is looking at all of their possible uses and how these new technologies
could merge to create new options not yet thought of.
Our success at Issaquah Milling Center has come
from our combined knowledge and experience in running a dental lab as
well as the drive and energy it takes to get any new business off the
ground. After the commitment to invest a great deal of money and time in
a new system, it takes the right people to make it work. In this case we
needed computer people and technicians who were innovative and patient
with computers and new technology.
We put in our own systems for training other Labs to trim dies
correctly and do all of the steps needed to make them successful with
Lava. Having a 24/7
operation allowed us to have a quick turn time getting copings back to
laboratories in a shorter amount of time.
Some of the unexpected challenges of being a
milling center have been the cost of keeping a great deal of inventory
and needing extra pieces of equipment to keep us on our time lines.
We view the future with a great deal of excitement.
The things that are coming in our industry are phenomenal and as
we continue to research every avenue of new technology, we have made a
commitment to keep one step ahead. As our industry changes we want to partner with you so that
you can continue to have immediate access to the latest technology
without the large capital commitment and associated risks. |
