Voices from The Bench

What a *bleep*ing week. Hard to imagine that this will end and everything will get back to normal. But until then, the podcast must go on! First up is an important update from Bennett Napier from the NADL (National Association of Dental Laboratories) . NADL Recorded Webinar COVID-19 Safety and Infection Protection Guidance for Dental Laboratories Executive Summary of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief an...

What a terrible week for our world, country, and industry. More and more states enacted the "Stay-at-Home" mandate and dentist seeing only emergency patients, the labs are getting next to no work. We hear every day of layoffs, Furloughs, and closings. It is sad but at the same time important that when the COVID-19 virus starts to "die off", that we are more than ready to get back to being the grow...

What a strange week for the world. We can't even begin to express our feelings for everyone and our industry. That is why we wanted to bring in the Executive Director of the NADL to give us an update for our industry on the COVID-19 virus. NADL COVID-19 Resource Links The Foundation of Dental Laboratory Technology Learning Library Then because we want everyone to have some sense of normalcy we con...

There is always a need for good leadership in dental laboratories. Ricki Braswell talks about taking a current leader or a technician turned leader and working with them to excel at their new role. Ricki Braswell was a co-executive director of the NADL for years and fell in love with our industry. She took that love and became the CEO of the Pankey Institute where she made the dental technician a...

Elvis and Barb wrap up the conversation they got while at the Vision 21 meeting from Las Vegas back in January. Elvis met Jesse Flor who owns a laboratory in California that has become a 100% digital lab, but also with his background working for DSOs has also opened up a few dental practices. His ownership of both has given him an interesting perspective into both fields. Then Elvis talks to two o...

Way back in January 2020, the National Association of Dental Laboratories (NADL) put together a meeting in Las Vegas called Vision 21. This outstanding dental laboratory business meeting is a must attend for anyone on the business side of their lab. While there they gave Elvis and Barb a table to record some of the high profile attendees and speakers. This first episode from Vision 21 features 5 a...

Happy 100th episode! A big thanks to everyone that has been a guest, listened to, or sponsored Voices From the Bench! We love bringing you the podcast every week and have enjoyed every second of it. And we have a GREAT episode for you this week. To celebrate our 100th episode we welcome Anton Woolf, CEO of the Argen Corporation to the show. Anton is a living icon in our industry by leading Argen t...

LMT LAB DAY Chicago is this weekend! Elvis and Barb are super excited to be there recording as many people as we can. But first we must bring you a fantastic interview we got a few months ago. Eugene Royzengurt is an assistant that became a technician, who then became an educator, and is now becoming a denturist living in a state he can't even be a denturist in. Eugene talks about his beginnings,...

We really enjoy talking to people that are passionate about what they do. When JDT released their 2020 “Who’s Hot” there was one technician that stood out. Christopher Gajewski is a man on the mission to organize and educate all the ortho laboratories. Chris owned a ortho lab but has now started working 100% for the Association of Orthodontic Laboratory Professionals. We talk to Chris about his be...

There are not many accredited schools left. They lack funds and enrollment. One school seems to be doing pretty good and they are positive about the future. While at the Eastern Conference of Dental Laboratories in Concord, NC, Elvis got to talk to three people associated with the program to get some different perspectives. First up is Erin Popov CDT who got into the industry via the school, gradu...

Celebrate 2020 and LMT Lab Day with these limited edition shirts! Sale extended until Feb 2, 2020 This week Elvis and Barb talk to a good friend to them and the whole industry. Jeff Stronk from Treasure Dental Studios sits down to talk about getting into the industry, buying out some partners, volunteering and leading various national boards, and is now the Chairperson of the Cal-Lab Association....

Celebrate 2020 and LMT Lab Day with these limited edition shirts! On Sale until January 26, 2020 Elvis and President Barb are back from Las Vegas and the Vision 21 meeting. So many great people attended and so many great sponsors. Most of the events where we get our continued education are possible because of the great vendors in our industry. While at the Eastern Conference of Dental Laboratories...

How often do we have to call and get a new impression? How many times does the doctor ask what can they do better? What is your answer? Just do it again? This is why we welcome to the podcast Jason Kiser from Kettenbach . Jason grew up in a lab that his dad owned (so he knows what a bad impression is), but was too much of an extrovert to sit at a bench. Now with Kettenbach, Jason see the importanc...

Let's make 2020 the start of a new decade for dental laboratory technology! Get your limited edition LMT Lab Day 2020 Voices From the Bench Shirt: HERE Elvis had a chance to speak at the Eastern Conference of Dental Laboratories and he can't go anywhere without bring some headphone mics and record some great conversations. This episode is the first of many featuring people he talked to at the East...

There we were at LMT Lab Day East. Judy Fishman comes up to us and introduces us to Kamilla Siekierski CDT. She says we have to have her on the podcast. Kamilla tells us about her faciniating life of learning dental technology in Poland, coming to America, and eventually becoming a leader in our profession. This is a remakable tale that you don't hear very often and one that you don't want to miss...

LAST TIME WE BEG VOTE for Voices From the Bench as the best dental podcast of 2019! VOTE HERE! When we record at events and conventions, we talk to a lot of great people in our industry. Some of them sit down to chat. Sometimes we have to put a few together to get all the conversation out so we can release the ones we got at other events. There are just too many amazing people in dental laboratory...

VOTE for Voices From the Bench as the best dental podcast of 2019! VOTE HERE! Barb is a BIG fan of labs that are in their second or third generation of owners. As she took over for her dad, we have found out that there are many in our industry. Which says a lot about what we do. While at LMT Lab Day East 2019, Elvis and Barb talked to two families who tell the tale of starting in a spare room and...

VOTE for Voices From the Bench as the best dental podcast of 2019! VOTE HERE! We love a good story of someone following a dream or passion. While we were at LMT Lab Day East we got to follow up with past podcast guest Jeremiah Naas. We had him and his wife Amanda on about a year ago on episodes 30 & 31 . This time Jeremiah fills us in on moving the family to Maine and going through the Denturi...

VOTE for Voices From the Bench as the best dental podcast of 2019! VOTE HERE! Passion comes in all different styles and sizes. We love to talk to anyone who is passionate about what they do. Elvis had the extreme pleasure to talk to two people who have a passion that you usually don't hear about. First up is Sevan Pulurian who is the 3Shape Specialist at Pacific Dental and talks about some interes...

Start off 2020 on the right foot by attending the 2020 NADL Vision 21 Meeting on January 16-18 in sunny Las Vegas. This year's premier business management meeting is looking to be the best one yet. On this episode we talk with three of the presenters that will be on stage during the meeting. Megan Nakanishi - Fireside Chat with 3 others about "Next Gen Laboratory Management" Joseph Apap CDT, MDT -...

Barb is back with Elvis to bring you two more interviews from the Whip Mix Digital Forum. VFTB loves when families work together. Joining us first is Allie and Mark Williamson CDTs. They met in a lab and still work together after all these years. Allie has "graduated" to become an educator at Ottawa Dental Lab and is doing what every lab wishes they could do. They talk about the program, encouragi...

Barb got held up at her lab over the weekend, Elvis is solo on this one. While at the Eastern Conference of Dental Laboratories Elvis took a break from speaking and recording to bring two conversations he got while at the Whip Mix Digital Forum back in early October. First up is the man, Denture Dan Elfring. He sits down to talk about his start back in the Air Force, working in a in-office laborat...

Whip Mix was on the podcast back on episodes 72 & 73 talking about the 2019 Digital Forum. Voices From the Bench was there to record anyone willing to sit down and chat. This week we feature a conversation with two speakers from the event. Prosthodontist Dr. Brandon Stapleton and Removable technician Bart Hyde CDT, DTG shared the stage to talk about using technology to work together from a dis...

Back in September Dentsply Sirona asked Elvis to speak at the DS Lab Marketing Summit. Initially he was not going to record, but they asked him to set up and the people he sat down with were amazing! Elvis got to talk to attendee Dillon Guppta who is a Denturist from Toronto Canada. Not only does Dillon see patients all day, but he also has a commercial lab and he has traveled all the way to North...

Dentsply Sirona puts on many events every year. One they do is called DS Marketing Summit. It's brings together many people within our industry who focus and have a unique perspective of "marketing" in our profession. They asked Elvis to speak at the event, but he also took the mobile recording gear and got some great interviews in between the many breakout sessions over the weekend. First up is J...