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.

CAM has been a major topic lately, and a lot of that conversation keeps coming back to hyperDENT. But instead of just talking about the software itself, it’s worth looking at real-world experience. Imagine USA has been using hyperDENT in their own lab for over 15 years. That kind of longevity says a lot—they’re not just selling and supporting it, they’re relying on it in their own production every single day. That’s what really sets them apart.

This week’s episode brings it full circle as Elvis reconnects with one of the podcast’s very first guests, Renata Bundy, now a longtime professor at New York City College of Technology. Along with her are two technicians who represent both sides of the journey—lab owner Roberto Rossi and workflow master Eugene Vega—creating a conversation that dives deep into education, mentorship, and what it really takes to succeed in today’s dental lab world.

Roberto shares his unlikely path from working sanitation in New York to building a thriving lab, Synergy Dental Studio, over nearly three decades. With a relentless focus on quality, constant improvement, and embracing digital (while still questioning it), he explains how his lab has grown into a tight-knit, high-level operation. Eugene adds perspective from inside the lab, describing his evolution from student to managing daily workflow, highlighting how important environment, mentorship, and work ethic are when transitioning from school to real-world production.

Renata ties it all together from the educational side, reflecting on over 20 years of teaching and how the program has evolved alongside the industry—from analog fundamentals to digital workflows—while still preparing students for the realities they’ll face after graduation. The group doesn’t shy away from the tough truths either: low starting pay, steep learning curves, and the high dropout rate among new technicians. But the message is clear—stick with it, find the right lab, and the opportunity is there.

It’s a conversation about growth, grit, and the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people—whether that’s in the classroom or the lab. And if nothing else, you’ll learn that a little Italian lunch might just be the secret to building a loyal team.

Special Guests: Eugene Vega, Renata Budny, CDT, TE, and Roberto Rossi.

Robert and Kaylee bring the real-world perspective, explaining how combining analog fundamentals with digital design unlocked predictable, better-fitting dentures and titanium partial frameworks that actually snap into place. From monolithic milled partials to same-day digital relines and cloud-based CAM without subscriptions, this conversation explores how “trad-digital” workflows could finally make digital dentures accessible, scalable, and practical for everyday labs—without sacrificing fit, function, or sanity.

Happy Holidays from Ivoclar!

As the year comes to a close, all of us at Ivoclar want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the incredible Voices From the Bench community. Thank you for your partnership, your trust, and the support you’ve shown throughout the year.

From our Ivoclar family to yours, we wish you a joyful, healthy, and safe holiday season.

May your days be merry, your nights be bright, and your smiles shine like freshly fallen snow.

Ho, ho, ho — Happy Holidays from Ivoclar!

Big news is coming your way in the world of CAM. Our friends at Ivoclar have teamed up with FOLLOW-ME! Technology to bring the Ivotion Denture System into the HyperDent CAM workflow.

That’s right—your favorite pre-shaded, two-layer Ivotion discs, the ones that let you design and mill a complete denture in one seamless process with no bonding and no mess, are now moving beyond closed systems. Thanks to this new partnership, Ivotion can finally be milled on open machines through HyperDent.

And it gets better: you’ll first see this powerful workflow available on the Roland DWX-53 series mills—already a staple in so many labs—as well as the Imagine iMills.

If you’ve been waiting for a faster, cleaner, more flexible way to produce full dentures, this is it. Ivoclar and FOLLOW-ME! just made the future of denture manufacturing wide open.

Get ready—HyperDent is about to change the way you mill Ivotion.

Special Guests: George Cowburn, Kaylee Jilbert , and Robert MacLeay .