Jim Beierle, 37

When Jim Beierle purchased Valley Orthodontic Laboratory from his father, Udo, four years ago, he knew his priority was growing the business. He was watching digital technology transform C&B but there wasn’t a big impact on orthodontics quite yet.

Less than six months later, a sales representative walked into the laboratory and showed him a nightguard printed on an Envisiontec printer; Beierle knew this was his opportunity. “A light bulb went off in my head and I dove in headfirst—investing $100,000 in new computers, a scanner and printer, software and licenses —and became one of the first in our area to have the technology,” says Beierle, President of the Snohomish, WA, laboratory.

He only printed 14 nightguards the first month; however, as more orthodontists purchased intraoral scanning systems, the service grew and the equipment paid for itself in the first year. Since then, he’s expanded into diagnostic setups and clear aligners...