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. Beyond the technology, Felix emphasized the value of being there in person—connecting face-to-face with partners, having meaningful conversations, and stepping back to see where the industry is headed. And of course, doing it all in Mallorca doesn’t hurt either.

This week at the Dental Laboratory Association of Texas Meeting 2026, the microphones stayed hot as three completely different conversations all circled around the same thing: how fast the dental lab industry is evolving. First up, the crew sat down with Tony Aliatim from Axis Dental Milling to talk about going from biomedical engineering and printing silicone heart models for surgeons… to becoming one of the go-to names in dental milling. From industrial machining roots in Michigan to AI-powered calibration systems and Straumann plug-and-play workflows, Tony breaks down how VersaMill machines are helping labs mill everything from zirconia to implant abutments faster, smarter, and safer. Along the way, the conversation dives into HyperDent, trade show madness, wet vs dry milling nightmares, and why dental technicians may not realize how close this industry really is to aerospace-level manufacturing.

Then things shifted from mills to maintenance with Rebekah Serrago and Chris Wilson from Garland Dental Services. What started decades ago as a garage-based repair business fixing handpieces has grown into one of the industry’s best-kept secrets for equipment sales, service, and support. Rebekah shares the story of growing up folding flyers for her father’s repair company before eventually becoming CEO and expanding Garland into a massive online sales and service operation supporting everything from ovens to mills. Chris joins in to talk preventative maintenance, service certifications, keeping ancient ovens alive, and why labs desperately need dealers that actually understand the equipment they sell. It’s equal parts family-business story, repair shop wisdom, and hilarious behind-the-scenes dental lab banter.

Finally, the future officially arrived when the podcast crew sat down with Antoine Coppens from Relu and orthodontic lab owner Christian Saurman of New England Orthodontic Laboratory. What started as four engineering students experimenting with AI in Belgium somehow turned into fully automated dental workflows capable of designing surgical guides, night guards, models, and restorations in minutes. The conversation explores how AI is reshaping lab workflows, reducing manual design time, integrating directly into LMS systems, and even learning individual lab preferences. Christian explains how his custom-built orthodontic lab management system helped eliminate workflow chaos and automate huge portions of production, while Antoine gives a fascinating look into where dental AI is headed next. Between AI-generated appliances, automated scan checks, and self-learning workflows, this episode feels less like science fiction and more like a preview of what labs will look like over the next five years.

Special Guests: Antoine Coppens, Chris Wilson, Christian Saurman, Rebekah Serrago, and Tony Aliatim.

Seth shares the long, winding road from e-commerce to dentistry, to clear aligners, to scanners, and finally to building what he hopes becomes the most modern, integrated, and speed-driven LMS in the industry. He talks workflow obsession, eliminating downloads, killing paper dockets, listening to lab pain points, and why he’s visited over 100 labs (and keeps going).

Ryan brings the real-world perspective from a 100-tech lab that went through multiple LMS transitions before landing on GreatLab. He explains how their booking teams shrank, inbound calls dropped by 50%, audits disappeared, and technicians suddenly found computers they “didn’t have” once the system made their jobs easier. From the CRM that kills phone tag to ScanHub pulling every scanner into one feed, Ryan breaks down exactly what changed on the bench, in customer service, and across production.

We also dig into bad scans (yes, 20% of them), doctor communication, automatic file routing, task automation, shipping integrations, data migration fears, and why some labs should not switch systems unless they’re truly ready to modernize.

If you’ve ever wondered what a cloud-based, automation-heavy, lab-built-from-the-ground-up LMS looks like—or why another lab described GreatLab as “a Ferrari while everyone else is a Civic”—this episode lays it all out.

Learn more or request a demo: greatlab.io
Find them in Vegas at NADL Visions and in Chicago at Lab Day!

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!

Elvis and Barb are gearing up for their chat with the HyperDent Dude himself, Jordan Greenberg from FOLLOW-ME! Technology. At LabFest, Elvis found out that every hyperDENT license comes with Template Editor Lite — a built-in feature that lets you make safe, customized tweaks to your milling strategies. Whether you want to prioritize surface quality or speed, this tool gives you the control to fine-tune your results while FOLLOW-ME! keeps everything validated and reliable.

Because in the end, us lab techs love to tinker — and hyperDENT makes it easy to choose your own CAM-venture.

Special Guests: Ryan Alexander and Seth Smith.