Displaying 2 items of Voices from The Bench with the tag "key opinion leader".
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442: Michael Wandling: The Long Road to CDT of the Year
September 14th, 2026 | 1 hr 12 mins
2025 cdt of the year, aidite, barb, bruxzir, cad cam, career growth, cdt, cdt certification, cdt exam, cdt exam preparation, cdt practical exam, cdt written exam, ceramics, certified dental technician, complete dentures, continuing education, crown and bridge, crown and bridge technician, dental cad cam, dental ceramics, dental certification, dental certification exam, dental education, dental implant certification, dental implants, dental industry, dental industry podcast, dental lab, dental lab community, dental lab culture, dental lab leadership, dental lab management, dental lab mentoring, dental lab owner, dental lab podcast, dental lab success, dental lab training, dental lab workflow, dental laboratory, dental laboratory careers, dental laboratory education, dental laboratory industry, dental laboratory leadership, dental laboratory podcast, dental laboratory standards, dental materials, dental milling, dental podcast, dental tech podcast, dental technician, dental technician career, dental technician education, dental technician success, dental technology, dental technology career, dental technology education, dental technology industry, dental training, dental zirconia, digital dental laboratory, digital dentistry, digital workflow, elvis dahl, fixed dentistry, giving back to the industry, horizon digital, implant cdt, implant dentistry, keller dental laboratory, key opinion leader, kol, lab owner, laboratory innovation, laboratory management, leadership, lifelong learning, master cdt, mentorship, mike wandling, national board for certification, nbc, nbc exams, production management, professional development, prozir ultra, quality assurance, quality control, removable dentistry, study clubs, summit horizon dental laboratory, technician development, technician training, vftb, voices from the bench, zirconia
This week on Voices From the Bench, we finally sit down with the 2025 CDT of the Year, Mike Wandling! Mike shares his journey from starting as a dental technician in 2001 to becoming an educator, Master CDT, examiner, NBC Board member, lab owner, and now Operations Manager at Summit Horizon Dental Laboratory. We talk certification, education, the future of the CDT program, his “A-Team” partnership with Barb, and what it means to give back to the dental laboratory industry.
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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.