February 2018

Eric Kukucka, DD, explains the step-by-step process of restoring an edentulous patient, from initial preliminary records to the final prosthesis, using the Ivoclar Digital Denture System.

I have five generations of dentists in my family and my plan was to follow in my family’s footsteps. However, during college I began working as a dental assistant where I learned how to make TMJ splints and I liked it so much that, in 2004, I opened my own laboratory.

Two years later, I had the...

Even though the economy was not ideal, I decided to open a laboratory in my house so I could be home with my children and support my family and husband’s education.

In 2012, after 40 years in the business—including growing and ultimately selling my Michigan-based laboratory to National Dentex—I retired from dental technology. Four years later, I wanted back in.

I missed the industry and decided I was too young to stop working. My wife—who is a...

Back in the early ’90s, I was in the aftermath of a painful, second divorce. My self-esteem was at rock bottom; I was genuinely lost and searching for the reasons I had failed again. I was determined to rebuild myself but the depression was deep.

I no longer saw being a master ceramist and successful...

Whitworth Dental Lab is a third-generation removable prosthetic lab, started by my grandfather in 1962. I worked with my dad, Jim Whitworth, at the lab for more than a decade until 2007 when he had a massive stroke. My world fell off its axis; one day I was a lab employee, the next I was the owner.

Since...

Early on in my career, I had to fire one of my most lucrative clients. I had worked with him for 10 years and his work accounted for nearly 35% of my profits. But he wanted to control my schedule; it even bothered him when I would take a week’s vacation. In fact, I once had to cut a vacation short...

Before starting my laboratory in 1987, I studied with the famous technician, Makato Yamamoto. It was a life-changing experience that taught me to always strive for my personal best. Around that time, I also had the honor of being a clinician for 3M Unitek Corp. and was blessed to be one of the esthetic-minded...

I first met dentist-to-the-stars Dr. Bill Dorfman—who’s a frequent guest on shows like The Doctors, Dr. Phil and Steve Harvey—10 years ago at the CDA meeting where I was showcasing the latest partial denture design I co-created. Dr. Dorfman saw the design and was instantly intrigued...

Over the past two years, I've hired two part-time technicians and we currently handle between 120-150 models per week.

After working as a technician for several years, I identified a fundamental, unmet need in the dental laboratory industry: quality model work. As we all know, models need to function...

In the summer of 2011, I was presented with an opportunity to merge my one-person cosmetic-oriented ceramics laboratory with an in-house full-service laboratory owned by a group of 18 general practitioners, pedodontists and oral surgeons/periodontists. The group was looking for a ceramist who had both...

I had an employee whose coworkers told me she was smoking weed in the bathroom. I went over to her and quietly whispered in her ear, ‘I heard someone is smoking pot in the bathroom. I hope I don’t find out who it is.’ Problem solved! 

Unlike many lab owners, I entered the industry with zero knowledge of the dental field. I was a successful entrepreneur for 15 years in the commercial charter aviation industry but my wife and I didn’t want to put all our eggs in one basket so I started looking for another business opportunity.

A...

In 1980, I was working for Williams Gold (now Ivoclar Vivadent) in Buffalo, NY. My father Raymond Gold owned Oral Arts Dental Laboratory, a 13-person operation in Atlanta, GA. He had to have cardiac bypass surgery and couldn’t manage the lab; since there was no chain of command or management team,...

Since we had followed his prescription to the letter, I let him know we’d be happy to remake the case and that our written policy was that all remakes are billed at 50% for completely new crowns. He refused, saying our policy was ridiculous.

In the mid-90s, I was working with a small group of...

My wife and I love to camp at the beaches, rivers and mountains near our Simi Valley, CA, home. When I turned 60, we gave up tent camping and bought a used RV for our trips.

Two years ago, in an effort to spend more time RVing, I sold my full service lab I started in 1980 to one of my employees; I retained...

This is the ultimate feel-good issue. Our cover story, How I Did It, celebrates defining moments in our community. Laboratory owners share their very personal stories about overcoming challenges and realizing their goals. Whether it’s staying true to their vision or shooting down the naysayers,...

With this newly documented evidence, we were able to go back to the two dentists who had left us and convince them to give us another try. They were overjoyed with the significant improvement in quality.

About 20 years ago, two of our best C&B clients suddenly disappeared. When I inquired as to why,...

In a matter of months we had to reevaluate our whole life, which includes three children. Since we couldn't keep up with monthly expenses and we had already relied on our credit to get the lab up and running, we were tapped out.

In 2012, seven years after my husband Greg and I started HD Lab, a C&B...

'It’s impossible.’

We must have heard those words at least 100 times over the last few years. My partner, Chad Holman, and I created a business plan with a goal that almost everyone considered ridiculous: to build a $3 million lab in three years.

Investors rolled their eyes at our lofty projections...

We started to think about eliminating the C&B department altogehter, which was scary....But when Amanda ran the numbers, she found that if we eliminated the costs of the C&B department....we could maintain almost the same level of profit. ~ Jeremiah Nass, CDT, DTG

In 2014, my parents decided...

After working together for 18 years at NDX Oral Arts in Atlanta, we [Denise Burris, CDT, and Katie Blue] were bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and decided to go out on our own. Last summer, we opened By Design Dental Studio in Atlanta.

We knew each other well and shared the same work ethic and goals:...

My wife, Yuko, and I have owned our four-person C&B lab since 2010 and from day one we’ve followed one core concept: to be more than just a box for impressions at the front counter. We strive to provide the best customer service possible by being personal, accessible and visible.

We...