Displaying 5 items of Voices from The Bench with the tag "craftsmanship".
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423: Kent Kohli is Always in Pursuit of a More Excellent Way
May 4th, 2026 | 1 hr 9 mins
100-hour weeks, aacd, accreditation, accuracy, all-ceramics, analog to digital, anatomy, anterior aesthetics, artistry, boutique lab, bunsen burner, burnout, cad/cam, career growth, case planning, casting, ceramics, chairside experience, clinical education, coaching, communication, continuing education, contour, craftsmanship, creation porcelain, crown and bridge, crown council, dedication, dental ceramics, dental community, dental conventions, dental lab, dental school, dental technician, dental technology, dentist-technician relationship, digital dentistry, e.max, efficiency, efficiency vs artistry, electric waxer, empress 2, entrepreneurship, european technique, excellence, feldspathic veneers, finishing, full contour, giving back, global dentistry, hands-on training, high-end dentistry, hornbrook group, impressions, in-house lab, incisal edge, indirect bonding, industry giants, industry leaders, innovation, inspiration, ips empress, ivoclar, jensen, key opinion leader, kol, lab business, lab culture, lab day chicago, lab education, lab evolution, lab ownership, lab workflow, lab-to-clinic collaboration, layering, lifelong learning, liquid ceramics, materials science, mentorship, mentorship impact, metal frameworks, micro-layering, microscopes, microstar, milling, models, morphology, networking, next generation, noritake, occlusion, ortho lab, orthodontics, partnerships, passion, perseverance, pfms, plaster, platinum foil, polishing, posterior restorations, precision, pricing strategy, productivity, pursuit of excellence, quality over quantity, race to the bottom, refractory technique, servant leadership, shade matching, smile design, social media, startup lab, surface texture, symposiums, teaching, time management, trade school, vita, waxing, work ethic, workflow optimization, youtube learning, zubler
Kent Kohli shares how an unexpected path—from pre-dental student to passionate lab technician—led him to fall in love with ceramics and the artistry of dental technology. Guided by mentors and fueled by relentless self-education, he chose quality and growth over high-volume burnout, shaping a long, rewarding career. Now with Ivoclar, Kent is focused on giving back by helping bring hands-on education and foundational techniques to the next generation of technicians.
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422: Renata Budny, Roberto Rossi, & Eugene Vega: The Never Ending Education in a Dental Lab
April 27th, 2026 | 1 hr 3 mins
3d printing, aesthetics, analog dentistry, anatomy, artistry, asiga, bench work, boutique lab, cad/cam, career development, career growth, career pathways, case acceptance, case planning, ceramics, city tech, collaboration, communication, continuing education, cosmetic dentistry, craftsmanship, crown and bridge, custom shade, dental, dental education, dental industry, dental lab life, dental materials, dental milling, dental printers, dental school, dental students, dental technician, dental technology, dentist relationships, dentures, diagnostic wax-up, digital dentistry, digital impressions, digital transition, digital workflow, efficiency, emax, employee culture, entrepreneurship, exocad, experience vs education, finishing, fixed prosthetics, full arch, future of dentistry, graduation, hands-on training, high-end lab, hiring, implant restorations, implants, impressions, industry challenges, innovation, lab efficiency, lab environment, lab growth, lab management, lab owner, lab perks, lab startup, lab to doctor, lab workflow, laboratory, layering, leadership, mentorship, mentorship in dentistry, milling, model work, morphology, motivation, new york city college of technology, occlusion, patient experience, polishing, porcelain, problem solving, production lab, productivity, prosthodontics, qc, quality control, removable, scaling a lab, scanning, shade matching, small business, smile design, synergy, team culture, teamwork, technician, technician retention, technician shortage, technology adoption, time management, training, troubleshooting, voices from the bench, wax-up, work ethic, work-life balance, workflow management, zirconia
Elvis reunites with Renata Bundy alongside lab owner Roberto Rossi and technician Eugene Vega for a conversation that connects education to real-world lab life. They share how technicians often start with little experience, face early challenges, and need the right mentorship and environment to grow. Roberto highlights building a quality-driven lab while navigating digital workflows, and Renata reflects on preparing students for those realities.
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417: Lab Day Chicago 2026 Part 3 with Frederic Rapp, Casey Baldwin, & Darin Lockaby
March 23rd, 2026 | 1 hr 12 mins
3shape, 510k, abs, abutments, aesthetics, ai, ai assistant, ai in dentistry, alerts, analytics, api, australia, automation, automation tools, ballroom, barb, blanks, bob cohen, business development, calibration, cam software, canada, case tracking, casey baldwin, ceramart, chairside, characterization, collaboration, communication, consolidation, cost of acquisition, craftsmanship, cross-selling, crown ceram, custom abutments, customer behavior, customer retention, customer service, darren lockerby, dashboards, data, database, dental, dental community, dental lab, dental technician, dental wings, des, digital dentistry, digital dentures, digital workflow, dry milling, education, efficiency, elvis, emax, engineering, entrepreneurship, europe labs, exocad, fda compliance, field work, fixed, follow-up, frédéric rapp, future tech, global industry, greatlab, hyperdent, icortica, implant workflow, implants, in-house production, industry trends, innovation, insights, integration, intraoral scanner, ios, ivoclar, ivotion, lab day energy, lab efficiency, lab growth, lab life, lab management system, labday, laboratory, leadership, live podcast, lms, magic touch, manufacturing, margins, materials, mechanical engineering, milling, networking, notes, notifications, oem, onboarding, open implants, opportunity tracking, outsourcing, partnership, plug and play, pm7, pnp, price pressure, private equity, productivity, profitability, programill 7, quality control, rapid prototyping, real-time data, relationships, removable, reporting, reps, revenue growth, rob nazel, sales strategy, scalability, scaling, scheduling, software, stock abutments, tasks, team building, technician, technology, tie bases, training, turnaround time, upselling, us labs, validation, voice input, voices from the bench, wet milling, workflow, workflow control, zirconia
Live from the Ivoclar Ballroom at Lab Day 2026, Elvis and Barb talk with Frederic Rapp about his journey from a small family lab to scaling a 150-person operation and now helping labs unlock their data with icortica. Then Casey Baldwin (Ivoclar) and Darin Lockaby (DESS) join to break down their new plug-and-play workflow for milling FDA-compliant abutments in-house—giving labs more control and better margins.
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409: John Wilson: Margins, Meaning, and Knowing When to Say No
January 26th, 2026 | 1 hr 6 mins
adaptability, burnout prevention, business alignment, craftsmanship, dental, dental lab ownership, digital dentistry, education, fundamentals, integrity, laboratory, lab–doctor relationships, leadership, legacy, margins, margins and meaning, mentorship, podcasting, pricing pressure, saying no, storytelling, sustainable growth, team culture, technician, trust, voices from the bench
Barb and Elvis welcome back John Wilson of Sunrise Dental Lab for a candid, reflective conversation about purpose, integrity, and longevity in the dental lab industry. John shares why he chose alignment over growth, how protecting his team and values reshaped his business, and why strong lab–doctor partnerships are built on trust, not price. The episode also dives into the inspiration behind his new podcast Margins & Meaning, focused on storytelling, connection, and reminding technicians they’re not alone.
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Episode 407: Dr. Miles Cone From Dinosaurs to Dentures & Finding the Art in Prosthodontics
January 12th, 2026 | 1 hr 6 mins
aesthetics, analog workflows, career journey, cdt, collaboration, craftsmanship, critique, dental, dental photography, dental technicians, dentures, digital dentistry, documentation, growth, ivoclar, lab artistry, lab day chicago, laboratory, mentorship, military dentistry, patient connection, prosthodontics, removables, storytelling, teamwork, technician, voices from the bench
In this episode, we talk with prosthodontist Dr. Miles Cone about his unconventional journey into dentistry, from studying dinosaurs and living out of his car to serving in the Army and earning his CDT. Dr. Cone shares how photography, lab work, and collaboration with skilled technicians transformed his approach to dentistry into a true blend of science and art. The conversation highlights respect for the lab, embracing critique to grow, and previews his upcoming Ivoclar Lab Day Chicago lecture on elevating removable prosthetics through intention and teamwork.