Voices from The Bench

Join Ivoclar (AND US!) this February at LMT Lab Day in Chicago. Ivoclar will be offering 16 different educational lectures over the three-day event, giving dental professionals plenty of opportunities to learn, connect, and grow. Visit labday.com/Ivoclar to view the full schedule and register, and be sure to stop by and see the Ivoclar team in the Windy City. Come see and talk to Elvis and Barb at all these amazing shows coming up in 2026 * Vision 21 in Las Vegas Jan 15-17 https://www.nadl.org/nadl-vision-21 * Cal-Lab Association Meeting in Chicago Feb 19-20 https://cal-lab.org/ * LMT Lab Day Chicago Feb 19-21 https://lmtmag.com/lmtlabday * Dental Lab Association of Texas Meeting in Dallas Apr 9-11 https://members.dlat.org/ * exocad Insights in Mallorca, Spain Apr 30 - May 1 https://exocad.com/insights-2026 This week we sit down with Stuart Steinbock for a wide-ranging conversation that blends dental industry history, innovation, and personal resilience. As a fourth-generation member of the Steinbock family, Stuart shares the origin story of Whip Mix (https://whipmix.com/)—from an egg beater with patented features to a global dental manufacturer—and his own unlikely path into the family business, including international expansion, lean manufacturing, and product development that helped shape how labs think about efficiency and quality The conversation follows Stuart’s journey beyond Whip Mix into startups, direct-to-consumer aligners, 3D printing with Carbon (https://www.carbon3d.com/), pandemic-era manufacturing, and running a high-volume orthodontic lab, before landing at Digital Dental (https://www.digitaldental.com/) as president. Along the way, Stuart offers candid insights on entrepreneurship, digital workflows, ortho vs. restorative mindsets, leadership through change, and the human side of the dental industry—ending with a powerful personal update on family, recovery, and finding balance after adversity Special Guest: Stuart Steinbock.

This week, we dive deep into the evolving world of digital dentures with George Cowburn, along with denturist Robert MacLeay and digital designer Kaylee Jilbert. George shares his unconventional path from engineering into dentures, the early challenges of bringing CAD/CAM into removables, and why his company Perfit has evolved into Lab Pilot (https://www.labpilot.net/)—a cloud-based approach designed to meet labs and denturists where they are, not where software companies wish they’d be. 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 (https://www.follow-me-tech.com/) to bring the Ivotion Denture System (https://www.ivoclar.com/en_us/products/digital-processes/ivotion) into the HyperDent CAM (https://www.follow-me-tech.com/hyperdent/) 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 (https://www.rolanddga.com/products/dental/dwx-53d)—already a staple in so many labs—as well as the Imagine iMills (https://www.imagineusa.com/legacy/s/mills/imill). 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 .

We’re coming to you live from NOLA Lab Fest with two very different, but equally nerd-worthy conversations. A HUGE THANKS to Aidite North America (https://www.aidite.com/) that has made this all available. Go show them some serious love. First up, Elvis sits down with Rik Jacobs from Novenda Technologies (https://www.lake3d.com/) to talk about a truly disruptive production-scale 3D printer that can print multi-material and multi-color—at the same time. We dive into voxel-based printing, integrated hard/soft gradients, no supports, water-soluble wax, massive denture and night guard output, and why centralized production labs should be paying very close attention to what Novenda is building next. Then we switch gears and catch up with Jess Gray, whose career journey is a masterclass in saying “yes,” learning fast, and building something special. From front desk at Aspen to running a rapidly growing in-house lab in the Finger Lakes region, Jess walks us through analog-to-digital dentures, Exocad self-education, facial scanning for All-on-X, in-office workflows, team building, and what it really takes to scale a lab while still loving the bench. This episode is packed with inspiration, tech talk, and real-world lab ownership lessons you don’t hear every 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! Big news is coming your way in the world of CAM. Our friends at Ivoclar have teamed up with FOLLOW-ME! Technology (https://www.follow-me-tech.com/) to bring the Ivotion Denture System (https://www.ivoclar.com/en_us/products/digital-processes/ivotion) into the HyperDent CAM (https://www.follow-me-tech.com/hyperdent/) 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 (https://www.rolanddga.com/products/dental/dwx-53d)—already a staple in so many labs—as well as the Imagine iMills (https://www.imagineusa.com/legacy/s/mills/imill). 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: Jess Gray and Rik Jacobs.

A Special THANKS to Aidite North America for allowing the podcast to record at Nola LabFest. GO SHOW THEM SOME LOVE! aidite.com Duff Wilson’s journey in dental technology is anything but typical. From getting thrown into high-volume removable work at a major lab in the early ’90s to opening Wilson Dental Lab out of his home and building a lean, relationship-driven business, Duff’s story is rooted in grit, loyalty, and doing things the right way—even when it’s hard. Along the way, he shares how mentorship, state lab associations, and taking care of people shaped his career, including helping other technicians start their own labs and building a South Carolina–based milling center to support small labs. The conversation dives deep into the evolution of digital dentistry, zirconia, milling centers, design services, and why relationships—not products—are what truly matter in this industry. Duff explains how trust and support led him to work closely with Aidite (https://www.aidite.com/), why being lean is the key to longevity, and how redefining success after a life-changing health scare helped him create a sustainable lab, a better lifestyle, and a clear path for the next generation of technicians 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 (https://www.follow-me-tech.com/) to bring the Ivotion Denture System (https://www.ivoclar.com/en_us/products/digital-processes/ivotion) into the HyperDent CAM (https://www.follow-me-tech.com/hyperdent/) 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 (https://www.rolanddga.com/products/dental/dwx-53d)—already a staple in so many labs—as well as the Imagine iMills (https://www.imagineusa.com/legacy/s/mills/imill). 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 Guest: Duff Wilson.

This week we welcome back the dynamic duo of digital dentistry, Blake Roney and Patrick Dewey from S.I.N. 360 (https://sin360.us/) (Simplicity • Innovation • Nanotechnology) for a massive deep dive into implants, photogrammetry, and the ever-evolving world of full-arch workflows. Since their last visit in 2022, Blake has gone from new kid on the block to full-blown Exocad (https://exocad.com/) educator, and Patrick breaks down how S.I.N. has doubled down on innovation across implants, CAD/CAM, and photogrammetry. The guys walk us through the new Versalis implant line (https://sin360.us/versalis/), why one connection for all indications is a big deal for labs, and how S.I.N. is pushing efficiencies for high-volume, complex full-arch clinicians. Then comes the star of the show: the MicronMapper (https://sin360.us/micronmapper/)—a lighter, faster, more accurate photogrammetry system that doesn’t just capture implants but verifies manufacturing accuracy, scans soft tissue, and reduces surgical guesswork. Blake breaks down real-world accuracy numbers, what RMSE actually means, why intraoral scanners aren’t cutting it for full-arch, and how FitCheck is saving labs from misfires, wasted zirconia, and bad days. They also reveal the newest frontier: Tissue Mapper, a photogrammetry-based, scanner-free workflow that pulls bite, tissue, and implant data without fiducials or messy post-op scans. It’s nerdy, innovative, and ridiculously cool for the high-volume teams ready to level up. If you love accuracy, numbers, full-arch workflows, or just really good dental tech nerding — this is your episode. 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 (https://www.follow-me-tech.com/) to bring the Ivotion Denture System (https://www.ivoclar.com/en_us/products/digital-processes/ivotion) into the HyperDent CAM (https://www.follow-me-tech.com/hyperdent/) 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 (https://www.rolanddga.com/products/dental/dwx-53d)—already a staple in so many labs—as well as the Imagine iMills (https://www.imagineusa.com/legacy/s/mills/imill). 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. Year-end chaos is here. Labs are slammed, deadlines are brutal, and mistakes are not an option. That’s when dental technicians rely on the one thing that never quits: https://www.rolanddga.com/applications/dental-cad-cam. The DWX-53DC (https://www.rolanddga.com/products/dental/dwx-53dc-5-axis-dry-dental-milling-with-automatic-disc-changer) is a true workhorse—24-hour automated milling that keeps your lab running, your overhead down, and your ROI up. No redos. No downtime. Just consistent, precise results. Built on decades of Japanese engineering, Roland delivers the reliability that keeps labs sane, profitable, and on schedule. Finish the year strong with the mill you can trust. Choose Roland DGSHAPE. Precision. Reliability. Performance. Learn more at rolanddga.com Special Guests: Blake Roney and Patrick Dewey.