The Changing Landscape

Course overview

In this presentation, attendees will take a look at the changing dental laboratory landscape and how this affects not only the dental practice but the dental lab industry and the patient as well. Advancements in materials and technology are now happening at an exponential pace, causing some turbulence within the industry. Are these advancements beneficial or will some of them impact the Dental Laboratory industry in a negative way. With only a few remaining dental technician programs available at universities combined with the constant decline in the number of US laboratories, this, along with a decline within the dental laboratory labor force, has strained the dental laboratory industry. Can emerging technologies such as AI and material advancements such as liquid ceramics, monolithic layered zirconia, and printed restorative materials aid the profession in filling the voids left behind by the current industry conditions while maintaining the ability to still provide world-class restorative work?