About this Episode
Hey Voices from the Bench community! Jessica Love here, sending a shoutout from Utah!
If you’re passionate about creating natural, beautiful smiles—but want to simplify your workflow without sacrificing aesthetics—this is for you. I’m honored to be part of Ivoclar’s development team introducing a powerful new stain and glaze system featuring Structure Paste, IPS e.max Ceram Art. Create stunning depth and lifelike color in as little as one firing.
Let’s continue to innovate, simplify, and create meaningful change—one smile at a time.
Elvis actually made it down to the exhibition halls this year — and hyperDENT from FOLLOW-ME! Technology was everywhere.
Booth after booth, people were talking milling strategies, templates, and workflows. It felt like a full-on CAM takeover. Their Milling Roadmap scavenger hunt had attendees bouncing between Axsys, Imagine, D.O.F., and Roland collecting stamps like responsible adults…
Responsible adults chasing a bright orange folding electric hyperDENT scooter.
That’s what we love about the FOLLOW-ME! team — world-class CAM engineers talking microns and validation protocols one minute, then ripping around Lab Day the next.
Serious about precision. Not too serious about themselves.
Big shoutout for bringing the brains — and the electric horsepower.
Come see and talk to Elvis and Barb at all these amazing shows in 2026*
- Dental Lab Association of Texas Meeting in Dallas Apr 9-11 https://members.dlat.org/
- exocad Insights in Mallorca, Spain Apr 30 - May 1 https://exocad.com/insights-2026
This week we finally get Jay Collins to stop dodging Elvis long enough to sit down and share one of the wildest journeys in dental lab history. From a family split between union steamfitters and dental technicians in Philadelphia to surviving “The Great Brotherly Lab War,” Jay’s story is packed with grit, loyalty, and a whole lot of Irish Catholic chaos. What started with an uncle drafted into dental technology during Vietnam eventually turned into a multi-generation lab legacy—and Jay swearing he’d never get into teeth… only to build a powerhouse anyway.
After the 2008 crash wiped out his construction business, Jay bet everything on selling outsourced restorations door-to-door, sleeping in his car, showering at the gym, and cold-calling hundreds of offices a week. What followed was the development of his unapologetically bold, psychologically savvy sales approach—what he calls being “aggressively calm.” From pushing doctors to “no,” to matching their energy toe-to-toe, to walking into offices as “the lab” and walking out with cases in hand, Jay breaks down the mindset shift most lab owners desperately need: sales isn’t optional, and it definitely isn’t accidental.
Now leading multiple lab locations under the brilliantly simple name thedentallab.net, Jay shares hard truths about growth, mergers, firing abusive clients, and why cutting your sales department in tough times is the worst move you can make. If you’ve ever struggled with prospecting, scaling, or standing your ground with doctors, this episode is packed with practical strategies, hilarious role-playing, and a reminder that confidence—backed by accountability—wins every time.