CAD/CAM Gamble Pays Off for Small Lab

"If you want to stay in business today, you can't compete on price. You have to be willing to change and offer something new," says Bob Iuliano, CDT, Owner of three-person Adirondack Dental Ceramics, Queensbury, NY. "I believe bringing a mill into our lab saved our lab. Without it, I think we would have eventually gone out of business."

Four years ago, when Iuliano wanted to start offering zirconia restorations, he did what many small laboratory owners do: he outsourced them. After going through a number of outsourcers, he found one he liked and the arrangement worked well for two-and-a-half years. However, for Iuliano there was one key limitation: time.

"Even though working with our subcontractor, Custom Automated Prosthetics (CAP) was great, outsourcing still took more time than having an in-house system," says Iuliano. "In order for a small lab to succeed in today's environment, we need to service the heck out of our doctors and part of that is turning things around...