Don, the owner of the local dental lab I use called me a while back.  He said he was thinking about buying inLab. Even though I don’t send him as much work as I used to, we still have a good relationship, he and most of his staff are patients in my office.  He knew I was happy I incorporated CEREC and wanted to know if inLab was something he should look into.

He told me that some of his docs who owned CEREC loved it and others disliked it.  I said, “Don, I want to ask you about the quality of preps you get from the two groups of docs.  I’m going to guess the ones who dislike their CEREC machines send you PVS impressions where you sometimes have a hard time figuring out how to trim the dies and you rarely have enough reduction. Whereas, the dentists who like CEREC send you impressions that have very readable margins and proper reduction.”  He said, “You are exactly right.”

This technology is amazing! You can do marvelous things with it.  However, it is only as good as you are.  You need to understand what it can do, and what it needs to mill good restorations.   It is a tool, albeit a very shiny tool, but just something we use to build crowns.  You are the craftsman who wields this tool.  I know for a fact this machine has made me a better clinician.

How can this machine teach me?  Try looking at your preps on a 20” monitor every day.  We are literally putting our work under a microscope and blowing it up for an instant, self-critique.   Day in, day out we see our work on the big screen.  What you do with this wealth of information is up to you.

great blog scoles! thanks for taking the time to write that. I ask lab techs who accept both digital and traditional impressions which docs tend to prep more consistently. it is always a resounding nod to the CAD/CAM dentist.

Dr. Mike - I whole heartedly agree! And tell other docs that Digital x-ray, wearing loupes, and CEREC have had the greatest impact on improving my dentistry! Thanks for the Blog! - Bill P.