Wellness in the Workplace

Last year, Knight Dental Group worked with its health insurance carrier to offer a free six-week smoking cessation program in which participants received nicotine replacement therapy patches. Each week, a motivational counselor met with the group to offer support and advice. Of the 10 employees who participated,...

Three years ago, when 350 employee DenMat in Lompoc, CA, was seeing an increase in workers’ compensation claims for repetitive motion injuries, Carol Newberry, Executive Administrator, worked with a trainer at a nearby gym to develop a stretching program. Using Theraband stretch bands, production...

Bagels and doughnuts used to be commonplace at the monthly employee appreciation event at DenMat in Lompoc, CA. But five years ago, in an effort to encourage healthier snack options, the company started providing a selection of fresh fruit for each meeting. “You wouldn’t believe it, but people...

Perhaps the most anticipated employee activity at DaVinci Dental Studios, a Beacon Bay Dental laboratory in West Hills, CA, is the annual ping pong tournament held on the lab’s outdoor ping pong table. About a third of the staff members sign up each year and are randomly assigned singles and doubles...

For employees at BonaDent Laboratories in Seneca Falls, NY, it’s more convenient than usual to fit in a workout during lunch or before or after work. That’s because the lab has an on-site fitness center—fully equipped with cardio equipment and weights—that’s open 24 hours...

To encourage employees to get outside and enjoy some physical activity on the weekends and afterhours, Glidewell Laboratories, Irvine, CA, organizes softball, basketball and flag football teams and also various walks and runs, including the Gladiator Mud Run, Wet ’n Wild Run, Color Run, Race for...

For 15 years, Knight Dental Group has sponsored an annual staff wellness event featuring a variety of health professionals. Held in conjunction with the lab’s annual blood drive, programs have included chiropractors offering free consultations; trainers demonstrating 10-minute workouts; massage...

At the suggestion of a few employees last summer, Albensi Laboratories in Irwin, PA, decided to partner with Weight Watchers® to hold meetings at the lab once a week. Twenty-five of its 153 employees joined the program—the lab paid a portion of the fee for each one—and met...

At Ottawa Dental Laboratory, wellness is deeply entrenched in the culture. In addition to initiatives like fitness challenges, on-site health screenings, safety training and more, the lab takes advantage of the Lunch-and-Learn concept to help employees learn more about nutrition. With titles like “Rethink...

With airborne silica and zirconia particles, aluminous oxide dust, and burnout and monomer fumes, it’s no surprise that air quality is the number-one health concern in a lab. Lab owners share their strategies for keeping the area clean and safe.

Lab owners share their strategies for handling dentist-clients who continue to send bloody/improperly disinfected impressions.

Post pictures and strategies at LMTmag.com/forum/wellness

More laboratories around the country are investing in CBCT scanners in order to scan implant patients in-house, but along with the technology comes the need for more precautions. For example, Laboratory Owner Darin Throndson, who installed a CBCT imaging center right next door to his new laboratory,...

About 10,000 cardiac arrests happen in workplaces each year according to the American Heart Association; this is one reason why a growing number of companies are taking steps to ensure they can help an employee in a crisis. At Albensi Laboratories in Irwin, PA, seven of the lab’s 153 employees...

The possibility of an earthquake literally comes with the territory when your lab is in California. But for Jayme Hong, the 5.1-magnitude earthquake in Lab Habra in 2014 was a definitive call to action. “I was at a dog park about 10 miles away; there was a really, really loud thumping sound...

Ottawa Dental Laboratory, Ottawa, IL, uses Goal Guru, an app-based program and digital platform that employees pair with their fitness trackers to easily monitor their physical activity as well as participate in company-wide, friendly competitions. 

“For example, we compete individually or...

After learning some self-defense moves in her kick-boxing class, Jayme Hong decided to sponsor a self-defense class for her staff at IDOC Dental Laboratory in Orange, CA. She tapped the expertise of her kick-boxing trainer as well as the trainer’s husband, a Los Angeles Police Officer, who gave...

One day each October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, everyone at Knight Dental Studio, Oldsmar, FL, dresses in pink. Spearheaded by Barbara Warner Wojdan and employee Sharon Belak, a breast cancer survivor, the event also includes lunch and give-aways of buttons, pens and informative pamphlets on mammograms....

“We have a lot of opportunities to be physically active because of where we’re located: beautiful Montana,” says Rhonda Hasselfeldt, Office Manager and Technician at North West Denture Center, a denturist practice in Missoula. For Hasselfeldt and the rest of the staff—Denturist...

At VividX Lab, employees are entitled to a monthly massage; they can either schedule an outside masseuse to come use the lab’s onsite massage room—outfitted with a professional massage table and relaxing music—or the lab will pay for them to go to the studio of their choice. The lab...