With over 30 years in the dental industry, 15 years as an orthodontic lab owner and the founder of a national association built to educate, I can help you navigate the technologies and develop the best workflows for your lab or practice.
From Lab Owner to Business Owner
Nobody really knew how to be a business owner. Nobody had to know. A good tech, or a good doctor, with an accountant, was all that we needed. Until the technological tsunami. It changed what we needed to know.
Marketing. Positioning. Education. Hardware. Software. What?!? Just give me a pair of pliers, a gypsum cast, my Netflix, and I’ll get it all done. Not anymore.
From Plaster Models to Scans
The new technology could be seen as just a new way to receive cases. That was a dead end with a $10,000 to $70,000 door stop at the end. A 25 cent model became $10,000 in software, $50,000+ in equipment, hundreds of hours in education and an entire new department with entirely new processes. ROI? Staying in business.
All lab owners hate resin models. Before all of the resin printers, there were gypsum printers. Using the same technology as dot matrix printers, they 3D printed plaster models using gypsum and salt water. Why did they never become popular? Because the market ignored them.
On Tech Companies
Tech companies suck. They dump their products on you with no instructions and no understanding of their market.
On CEO’s
I facepalmed a lot. I had CEO after CEO in my tiny little lab, trying to explain how they could help themselves. They ignored me and wasted my damn time.
On Fiscal Responsibility
Lab owners complain when a doctor asks them for a discount, and yet they are surprised when I ask for compensation beyond lunch and a cup of coffee?