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• Mark Jackson, RDT

  Mark co-founded the laboratory in 1981. A member of the ICOI and Cal-Lab, he serves on the Board of directors of the National Association of Dental Laboratories, writes a monthly column for the Journal of Dental Technology and has been on the faculty of NADLU since 2004. He has lectured throughout the US, as well as in Europe and Africa. Mark is active in the community, and in humanitarian and conservation affairs as a board member of Safari Club International. He lives in Rancho Cucamonga with his wife and children.

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  3D Imaging Add new tag ArtGlass BruxZir CAD/CAM Captek Cone Beam CT Counterfeit DLOAC Empress2 experimenting on patients FDA Green State Implant Planning Implant Surgical Guides IPS e.Max Lava MedWatch Modifying product liability substitution Zirconia Zirconia Crowns

DLOAC 6th annual CAD/CAM symposium, Pasadena CA, November 20-21, 2009

The Dental Lab Owners Association of California will be hosting the 6th annual CAD/CAM symposium this weekend at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena. This is a popular program where many of the established suppliers show their wares, and a few new manufacturers exhibit, often for the very first time.

Frankly, in this current economy, I don’t anticipate seeing a lot of exciting new developments. I DO expect to see some very aggressive pricing strategies and more of the inexpensive milling machines being placed in labs for free in order to generate block sales. What the industry does NOT need is another “me-too”, cheap generic zirconia block. Zirconia has become the non-precious metal of all ceramic crowns.

By far, the products generating the most buzz among dentists, are IPS e.Max lithium disilicate and BruxZir Total Zirconia Crowns. Unfortunately, we’ll probably see cheap “generic” versions of these products flooding in from overseas before too long.

Posted on November 19th 2009f 2009 at 10:01am in Industry Commentary by enthusiast