At exocad Insights in beautiful Mallorca, we finally caught up with Felix from Imagine USA—and the timing couldn’t have been better. As an exocad dealer on the front lines of digital dentistry, Felix shared his excitement about the strong turnout, the familiar faces, and most importantly, the innovation coming from exocad. What stood out most? The new exocad Hub and its cloud-based capabilities, along with powerful AI-driven tools inside DentalDB designed for efficient batch processing. For Felix and the Imagine team, it’s not just about seeing what’s new—it’s about putting it to the test. By running new features through their own production facility first, they ensure real-world performance before bringing solutions to their customers.

Fresh off the beaches and lectures of the beautiful island of Mallorca at the exocad Insights 2026 , Elvis and Barb sat down with three incredible women proving that digital dentistry is global, creative, and fueled by passion. First up is Andreea Bordea, a ceramist and lab owner originally from Romania who found her way into dental technology after narrowly missing acceptance into dental school. From analog waxing and staining zirconia with a single A2 shade to opening her own lab in Spain and building a digital workflow around exocad, Andreea shares the journey of learning everything the hard way. She talks about teaching herself digital dentistry, building a team, and how social media unexpectedly became her outlet while working alone in her lab. The conversation also dives into Ivoclar materials, zirconia, and the excitement around new products launched at Insights.

Then the microphones turn to Denisse Ramos from for one of the most energetic conversations of the event. Denisse talks about her journey from Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Coca-Cola into the dental industry, eventually becoming a major force in digital workflows, 3D printing, and equipment sales. From Dentsply to Desktop Health and now leading sales at New Stetic USA, Denisse shares stories about mentorship, industry evolution, women in dentistry, and why labs need to charge for their expertise. We all talk about the rise of digital dentistry, treatment planning frustrations, social media, the future of dentures, and the importance of giving back through organizations like Ladies of the Mill and the NADL.

Finally, Elvis met Daniela Torres, better known online as “Danny Designer,” a digital designer from Chile whose Instagram portfolio turned into a thriving business. Daniela explains how she taught herself exocad through YouTube before traveling to Madrid for advanced training, eventually working at the MOD Institute in South Carolina before returning to Chile to build her own remote design business. From designing full arch restorations and dentures to handling dozens of cases a day entirely through email and WhatsApp, Daniela proves how powerful digital dentistry and social media have become for technicians worldwide. The conversation wraps with excitement around exocad’s newest updates, the exocad Hub, and what it means to be recognized as an exocad Hero.

Special Guests: Andreea Bordea, Daniela Torres, and Denisse Lasso Ramos.

On June 9 & 10, Voices From the Bench will be back at the Florida Dental Lab Association Symposium that's to the wonderful people at Jensen Dental. Be sure to check out FDLA.NET to see the line up and to register.

This week we start the conversations that we recorded in the Ivoclar Ballroom during Lab Day Chicago 2024. This week brings us:

• Michael Wandling from Summit-Horizon Dental Lab talking about writing the question for the CDT tests and working on getting enough CDTs to become a Master CDT.

• Vinod Dudhat tells the story of changing careers after coming to America from India and opening American Dental Designs that sees the value of offering education to dentists.

• Brian Johns, who was a fixed technician that wanted to add removable to his lab Spectrum Dental Science. Thanks to Ivoclar, Ivotion, and the PM7, Brian was able to bring in digital dentures and eventually full arch fixed hybrids.

• Rob Fletcher loves lean manufacturing. Starting in the automotive industry, Rob was recruited to bring lean manufacturing to Knight Dental and is now bringing it to Bayshore Dental Studio. Rob explains the process and how labs can eliminate waste and increase productivity.

Wanting to take your knowledge and skills to the next level? If you are looking for the best education dedicated to dentistry in both the labs and clinics, check out Ivoclar Academy.

From on-demand webinars to in-person training, Ivoclar Academy has a program to meet your busy schedule. Check out all they have to offer HERE!

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Don’t wait any longer to start providing your customers with a premium tooth at an economy price. Redeem your free case sample and if you’re ready to buy, VITA will even give you an extra 10% discount by shopping online on their newly launched online store.

Join the VITA family today.

Join Elvis & Barb as Voices From the Bench goes international! On May 9th and 10th, the podcast will be recording at https://exocad.com/insights2024 on the beautiful Spanish island of Mallorca.

This is a fantastic educational event for all of you in the lab industry – and your clinical colleagues!

The international speaker line-up is top-notch.

There will be: keynote presentations from master dental technicians, digital experts, implant surgeons, lab owners, and more!

Exocad’s software experts will run hands-on sessions so you can get to know the latest releases…including DentalCAD 3.2 Elefsina…which was released recently.

Techs…. Do you have a problem with a design? Just bring your stl file and let the Application Specialists take a look at it.

Check out exocad.com/insights2024 to see the AMAZING line up of speakers and to register. Use promo code VFTB15 to save 15% off registration to what will be one of the greatest events of the year.

See you there!

Special Guests: Brian K. Johns, Michael Wandling CDT, Rob Fletcher, and Vinod Dudhat.