Displaying 9 items of Voices from The Bench with the tag "dental technician".
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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 Bundy, 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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421: Katherine Steinbock-Dyke: From Girl Scout Cookies to CEO of Whip Mix
April 20th, 2026 | 1 hr 3 mins
3d printing, analog dentistry, analog vs digital, articulators, asiga, australia, bench culture, bench work, business evolution, cad cam, career growth, ceo, collaboration, continuous improvement, corporate culture, customer relationships, dealer network, dental, dental community, dental education, dental equipment, dental industry, dental lab, dental labs, dental manufacturing, dental materials, dental resins, dental schools, dental technician, dental technicians, dental technology, digital dentistry, employee benefits, entrepreneurship, europe, family business, furnaces, future of dentistry, global markets, gypsum, heritage, hr, human resources, hybrid workflow, ids, industry insights, industry trends, innovation, innovation strategy, international business, katherine steinbock-dyke, lab day, lab life, lab owners, lab workflow, laboratory, large labs, latin america, leadership, legacy, management, materials science, mentorship, mixers, model trimmers, networking, next generation, operations, partnerships, podcasts, polymers, product development, production, relevance, small business, storytelling, succession planning, team building, technician, technicians life, trade shows, voices from the bench, whip mix, win program, workflow efficiency
This week we chat with Katherine Steinbock-Dyke of Whip Mix about growing up in a family-run dental company and unexpectedly working her way to CEO. She shares her path from HR and corporate roles into operations, product development, and ultimately leadership—highlighting the balance between tradition and innovation in today’s evolving lab landscape. The episode mixes stories of continuous improvement, digital transitions, and industry travel, all wrapped in the perspective of someone focused on keeping a legacy company relevant for the future.
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420: Seth Potter: Insight Into exocad Without Borders
April 13th, 2026 | 1 hr 12 mins
3d printing, analog workflow, automation, burnout, cad cam, cad designer, canada, clients, crown and bridge, dental, dental education, dental lab, dental mission trips, dental software, dental technician, dental technology, dentist father, digital dentistry, digital workflow, dominican republic, dropbox, efficiency optimization, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship journey, exocad, exocad insights, faith, family influence, freelancing, full arch, hustle, implants, indeed strategy, innovation, lab equipment, lab growth, laboratory, location freedom, milling, missionary dentistry, outsourcing, outsourcing design, paraguay, productivity, remote design, remote work, sailboat life, sailing, scaling, scanning, self taught, startup, systems, technician, travel, voices from the bench, wetransfer, work life balance, workflow efficiency
This week, we talk with Seth Potter, a dental technician living a truly unconventional life—splitting his time between Canada and Paraguay while running a remote design business. From growing up on a sailboat and assisting on missionary dental trips to teaching himself digital workflows, Seth shares how he built a career with exocad rooted in freedom and efficiency. He also dives into the realities of scaling, burnout, and why creating systems—not just working harder—is the key to long-term success.
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419: Katherine Wilcox Wants You To Work EviSmarter and Not Harder
April 6th, 2026 | 1 hr 7 mins
3shape, ai, cad design, case entry, covid impact, customer service, data integration, dental, dental lab, dental technician, dental technology, design center, digital dentistry, digital workflow, efficiency, evident, evismart, file management, industry trends, innovation, itero, lab growth, lab management, lab software, laboratory, manila, outsourcing, outsourcing design, philippines, process optimization, productivity, quality control, scanning, staffing shortages, technician, trios, voices from the bench, workflow automation
Elvis and Barb sit down with Katherine Wilcox to talk about her journey from avoiding small talk as a dental assistant to thriving as a lab tech and eventually moving into the world of digital workflows and software. She shares how outsourcing design services exploded during COVID and became a lifeline for labs trying to manage workload and staffing challenges. The conversation highlights how EviSmart is helping labs automate workflows, reduce manual tasks, and bring order to the chaos of digital dentistry.
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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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415: Lab Day Chicago 2026 (& Cal-Lab) Part 1 with Jeff Stronk, April Newell, & Joey Hunter
March 9th, 2026 | 1 hr 16 mins
additive manufacturing, analog dentistry, april newell, cal-lab, cal-lab 100, chrome cobalt, dental, dental 3d printing, dental business growth, dental career paths, dental craftsmanship, dental frameworks, dental industry trends, dental innovation, dental lab leadership, dental lab management, dental lab owners, dental laboratory, dental manufacturing, dental meetings, dental technician, dental technology, denture finishing, denture waxing, dentures, digital dentistry, implant bars, industry networking, jeff strock, joey hunter, lab day chicago, lab education, lab workflow, laboratory, metal printing, night guards, orthodontic appliances, partial dentures, peer-to-peer learning, removable prosthetics, resin printing, technician, technician skills, titanium printing, tooth setup, voices from the bench, wire bending
At the 100th anniversary meeting of the Cal-Lab Association, Elvis talks with Jeff Stronk about a successful first day filled with great speakers, strong attendance, and meaningful peer-to-peer conversations between lab owners. He also chats with April Newell about the rapid growth of dental 3D printing and how metal and resin printing are expanding what labs can produce. Finally, longtime technician Joey Hunter shares her 30-year journey in removables and her experience attending LMT Lab Day Chicago 2026 for the first time.
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414: Richard Rosas Sr: From Salsa Dancing to Parking Lot Prosthetics
March 2nd, 2026 | 1 hr 10 mins
all-on-four, art background, boutique lab, chairside, clearchoice, dental, dental technician, dentures, digital dentures, entrepreneur, expedited service, faith-driven, family business, faster turnaround, google reviews, harrisburg, impression evaluation, innovation, lab manager, laboratory, lancaster pennsylvania, marketing, mobile lab, on-site laboratory, patient experience, private practice dentistry, ptc training, relationship building, removables, salsa dancer, social media, sprinter van, technician, two-week dentures, voices from the bench, workflow efficiency, york pa
This week we talk with Richard Rosas Sr, an artist-turned-removable specialist whose journey took him from salsa studios and computer programming to managing a lab and mastering high-volume implant workflows at ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers. After seeing firsthand the power of chairside collaboration and in-house efficiency, Richard built a boutique removable lab — and then took it a step further by creating a fully functional mobile dental lab inside a Sprinter van. Now he’s redefining how dentures are delivered, combining speed, aesthetics, and patient connection while sharing his workflow through education and content creation.
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410: Helen Tanaka: From a Driver to the Bench and Knowing the Why
February 2nd, 2026 | 1 hr 8 mins
3shape, analog vs digital voices from the bench, arklign, attachments, bite blocks, bite records, case planning, case rescue, ce courses, chairside support, clearchoice, co-diagnostic, combination cases, continuing education, conversions, crown and bridge, dental, dental laboratory, dental materials, dental students, dental technician, dental technology, dentist collaboration, dentures, digital dentures, digital records, digital workflow, education, exocad, fundamentals, fundamentals first, fundamentals teaching, guided surgery, helen tanaka, implant courses, implant planning, implant restorations, lab driver, lab management, lab workflow, laboratory, locator attachments, mandibular advancement device, mentorship, microdental, model room, morphology, occlusion, orthodontics, overdentures, pathways, photogrammetry, quality control, removable prosthetics, removables, restorations, scanning, sleep appliances, sops, stackable guides, technical service, technician, technician training, training, troubleshooting, troubleshooting dentures, waxing copings, wire bending, workflow, zest
This week we talk with Helen Tanaka, a removable and implant specialist who started her career as a dental lab driver and worked her way into lab management, digital workflows, and clinical education. She shares her passion for dentures, occlusion, and implant restorations, emphasizing that technicians must understand the fundamentals and the why behind every step — especially in today’s digital world. The conversation covers guided surgery, digital dentures, doctor training, and the growing need for stronger removable education for both dentists and technicians.