CAD/CAM Showdown: Glidewell io & Same-Day Dentistry (E.286)

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: 2020 in Minneapolis, and we started talking about the Glidewell I/O, which I was already interested in. So this episode is going to have a lot of CAD cam discussions surrounding the Glidewell I/O. Versus Dr. Chad Johnson. With us. In this series. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Space, and of course, our wonderful co-host, Reagan Robertson, to step in and. Join us for the nerd talk. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: In case it gets a little heated.

and so I graduated dental school in oh, 4, and didn't really know that it existed, maybe until a little later. And I always thought that Sarah dentists were like. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: The coolest dentist, and I was never going to be that cool that was always going to be above my pay grade. I was running a failed practice for a really long time. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: And the Sarah Dennis I was like the really nerdy girl and Sarah Dennis were the football players. Right like.

Thomas.Boran: All the cool guys right? I suppose so. Yes. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: You go. Tom is, is bringing in a little bit of. Yeah. Welcome. To. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Flow back to us here. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Thank you for that.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: And but so then I had, like Sarah, people come into my office and show me, and they brought, like, you know, suitcases and suitcases and suitcases and suitcases and suitcases of equipment. And it was really cool, and it was really cool, and I thought that, you know maybe someday I would I would get that. And then. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: lo and behold! One of our friends, one of the Pda Docs that we talk to all the time. Andy Droll and his wife, Natalie.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: They started talking about the Glidewell I/O. And they had 2 of them. They bought 2 of them around the time of Covid, and they would not stop talking about how wonderful it was. So then there I was at the Agd. And I'm like, let me let me see what this thing looks like, and that's how Tom and I met.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: and I thought, you know what the heck now I finally have some money to do, and I always wanted to do same day or same appointment crowns, and that's kind of how I fell into it. But I didn't really know too much about CAD cam Dr. Maggie Augustyn: technology right? Thomas.Boran: Yeah, yeah, you also. You're coming out of the exam. So it was like. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Oh, yeah. Thomas.Boran: Goes off in a movie, and you hear that piercing noise.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Just taken that Fagd exam. Thomas.Boran: So. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: My mind was kind of, yeah. Really reminded. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: And all kinds of things like that. Chad, how did how did you get involved in Cerec. The guy came to show me the demo. I believe it was November it was October of 2,012, and he he said, can I show you a demo? I said. You can show me a demo as long as you understand one thing, I'm not going to buy this.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Tom, how often do you hear that. Thomas.Boran: Well, it depends on what we constitute a demo. Thomas.Boran: I can. I can loop back to that. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: To. Thomas.Boran: But I love, I love your response. Being candid, you know. Thomas.Boran: Oh, yeah, we've heard it. So I told the guy I was like, I I said, I'm not interested, but fair enough. Come, show it to me, cause I've I used it in school and and I liked where it was going.

but I don't think that it was there yet, and so when he came into my office. He did. We did a demo and between the materials which I had been using emacs at that point. But I emacs press from a lab not exclusively by any means. But I was more comfortable with that using that material than some people might have been, especially whatever you know, 13 years ago.

and the the milling unit had improved, the software had improved and the hardware had improved to where I had from where I had 1st seen it in school. And when I, job shadowed in offices. So by the time he shows me this in 2,012, I was like, okay, you guys actually have made a lot of progress and Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Okay, okay, did you buy it? Friendly. Yes, within a month. Thomas.Boran: Was it a blue cam, or was it. Blue, cam. Thomas.Boran: Blue, cam.

Yup. Within a month I had it purchased. I was just like, Oh, I'm such a sucker! So on my birthday, November 8, th 2,012. I had it delivered and started using it then. And so like, if you're like, how do you remember the date is because it was. It was my! It was my birthday present, you know, like, for sure, that I paid. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Much did you spend? At the time for the milling unit and the and the camera. If I recall properly, it was 119,000.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Okay? And that that's that's the milling unit. And does that include the oven, too? It included the oven, the milling unit and the A/C. The acquisition unit. Thomas.Boran: In 2020. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: That's a that's a scanner. In 2020 $12 for sure. Did you say? Scanner or scammer? No, I'm just playing around. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: I thought you were on the series. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: I know I'm just slide was fine.

I can have fun. I can have fun. So yes, it included the the blue cam scanner, which was pictures, not video. And so you had to stitch pictures. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Reagan, can you? Can you check for us what a hundred $12 is in today's dollars? Was it a hundred and. 100 and 12. Yeah.

Super excited because I was excited about like as much volume as I was doing. I was like, I'm gonna save on my Lab Bill. I'm not going to have to make temporaries. I'm going to get to do the cool dentistry as you talked about that all these cool guys get to do that. I knew, you know, a few that were doing this. And I and the C. Docs community online was awesome and constructive, like they were a group of guys that were forward thinking so like

they weren't, you know. You go on to old school, dental town, and they might be, you know, like everyone's ripping on each other, you know. Like, how dare you put that margin in there? I always only put perfect margins in for my name, is it? Dr. Blanket blank? And then, you know, on cdocs

they were. They were just like, you know. What? If you would have made sure that you prepped that line angle right there a little bit smoother, you probably would have had a better outcome. But the color blend is amazing. You did a really good job on this. So it was very constructive. And so, and then, even having the training center down in Phoenix, you know, like at the Spear Education Center. Like. So all of it, the whole experience was definitely

rewarding to learn how to do at the time the most biomimetic dentistry that you could do with ceramic? I mean, you know, this was bucking the trends. This was to some degree the apple of dentistry, you know, like it was the cool but expensive trick, awesome change in how you practiced dentistry. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Were there a lot of other dentists in your area that were doing the same thing?

No. When I got this in 2012, I know of about 4 offices in the Des Moines area, which at the time there were probably, let's say, 300 dentists, $154,000. Yep. So I was right in that 150 to 160. So $154,000 would be what it would be priced at in today's dollars. Which, mind you, is what the cost in 2012 was for a milling unit. the acquisition unit, the camera and the oven. And I think it was 160 or 164,000. So that's about right. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Is that? How.

Thomas.Boran: How many times sorry. No go ahead, John! Thomas.Boran: Upgraded. I have. I had blue cam. Then I went to Omni Cam. Then I went to the Prime Scan right now, and I have 2 offices, so I have 2 prime scan. Thomas.Boran: Are you on the Prime Mill or the Mcxls. I still have the Mc. Excel at my old office, which I absolutely love, and I have the Prime Mill period. Thomas.Boran: Okay. Thomas.Boran: Sorry to budge in. No. Thomas.Boran: It's a great call.

I love. How if if listeners can't see it? I love how Reagan looked like I got what you said. I'm just.

It will be a good thing for dentistry. It's a good thing, I think, for Cerec to have competitors and for dentistry, for the price points is amazing and because kind of like our last podcast we were talking about not being able to identify. When you hear that you know that Sarona, historically, was privately owned by a family that owned a castle in Lichtenstein

like it just didn't make you, you know, feel as though you were really connected well with them, and they throw amazing parties because you're buying a machine for $160,000. Right? So I'll I'll throw my own punches at the group that I love because it's not anything personal against anyone but like I feel like. Over the last few years they could have leaned in more towards

staying the best, and they've left a lot of room for other people to catch up really quickly. And yet I'm okay with that. So like, I'm comfortable with this the cerex sphere. And yet I'm comfortable with the thought that there are other players coming alongside which will make dentistry altogether better. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Is it because they thought that they had a monopoly that they just kind. No, no, they had a monopoly, I mean. They didn't think they.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: They just assumed that they were going to make. Correct. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: They're a monopoly. Correct. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: The the foot off the gas, and then then comes Glidewell. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: and they invent something that nobody thought was possible. No. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: They invent right, Tom, I mean. Thomas.Boran: I think the history, though, of in office, because there are some.

Thomas.Boran: some pretty incredible doctors slash. I would call them lab technicians that will invest in other design platforms several. Yes. Thomas.Boran: Scanners full on in office lab. They can do zirconia titanium bars, full arch. So they do have their own kind of in office, full functioning labs in terms of kind of the Daily single use. Mrs. Jones, number 30. Really, we saw E. 4 d. Hop on the scene with. That's true.

Thomas.Boran: Nexus design platform. So they really try to give them their run for the money. And in about that same time period maybe oh, 9, Thomas.Boran: 10, when E, 4 d. Or d 4 d technology started in Richardson, Texas. They were shine kind of a shine only distribution. So it was basically Patterson, only siric distribution. So you had distributor versus distributor in that game of CAD cam where shakes it up is when we came up with our 1st in office system, which is not the current fast mill

Thomas.Boran: fast mill has been around for about 5 years now. We started to shake it up, being really open from a scanner acquisition standpoint, because our lab uses our same fast design software in which we accept files from every acquisition or scanner unit. So I think really the moving and shaking came with Fast mill.

Thomas.Boran: breaking up the ease of design, platform support, and a lab supporting you from a design standpoint with millions of units, not to mention Zirconia, that really changed our business at Glidewell. Yep. So, Tom, you have a a good point that when the when E. 4 d. Gave their effort their best effort, they were

they they still were a little brother, because I heard a lot of people that were, you know, I'd say, Oh, you got the e 4 d, and yeah, it was cheaper. Okay, so you got it cheaper. So you know, how long does it take for you to do a crown.

Thomas.Boran: Well, we typically have them back the next day. And and it's like, Why do you? What do you mean? You have them come back the next day. So it was definitely a little brother move if someone said they got an E. 4 DI did not feel as though I had competition. So. So there's that. But then you also mentioned hold on, clap, clap, clap you mentioned. but our clap is the pause for the the editor. Tom, Tom, you were mentioning E. 4 d. And then you went into what was it.

Thomas.Boran: The planning softwares, or. The okay, yes. Clap, clap, clap. Then the other issue is the open versus closed software slash platform stuff. So Cyric wanted to have, and still has.

quite a closed platform, and it was a big deal when they started releasing Stl files. I mean, that was pretty awesome, so we could play with other labs and stuff like that, but they still to this day, I imagine, would say that when they have a closed system, then they're in charge of any problems that are happening from start to finish, which was nice, because then, if there was an issue.

Microsoft couldn't say that it was an issue with your chrome, and Chrome couldn't say it was incompatible with adobe and stuff like that. So you didn't have those platform issues. And and yet, as soon as someone could figure out how to open platform. Open source, you know their stuff. Then it was going to be a game changer that would take Sirec down. Thomas.Boran: Yeah, I definitely like that

Thomas.Boran: idea of being supported by one area where I do feel if we had to look at the Glidewell system in general, where it does use several different scanners. Thomas.Boran: that allows you to get good from an acquisition standpoint. First, st where most offices are starting in the lab. I believe we're at 60% digital, and we could do 10 to 15,000 units a day. So we

Thomas.Boran: pretty much we have a good pulse on the industry what it looks like as a whole. So it's a good indication of what the market looks like in general, of what we see coming inside of Glidewell. And so if you start at 1 point with this, you know scanner acquisition wand several of them out there on the market. If you're comfortable with that.

Thomas.Boran: our system software supports it all. So now we're open to those many users. So in terms of edging the market, we're not worried about the the design platform happening on your prime scan. We're completely separate from the wand. The wand will be click and drag files or direct interface, drop Point cloud to cloud, talk to our design software that would then Thomas.Boran: in return, speak to the mill. So I would consider open, even though we don't have our own kind of, you know.

Thomas.Boran: I guess. System platform that you know we have the support from the scanner standpoint that would go through the scanner manufacturer. Degraded. Thomas.Boran: It's integrated right? Exactly. I'll tell you why so. Thomas.Boran: From the mill side through Glidewell, which is nice because you don't have to hunt down a distributor or dealer or partner. Another company. We are directly supported through our you know our own efforts.

And I think, Maggie, I would have come more into this conversation. ready to swing, and you know, be like, Hey, I use the best, and whatever, except for Maggie, yours, your experience and doctor and Dr. Droll their experiences and telling you about their stuff. Was so positive that it's just like, well, shoot, I mean.

you know you got. And so you introduced me at the last Pda Conference that you were like. Why don't we, you know, talk with this lady about the you know, the the product. And I was really impressed. The, you know, the the software was easy to use. But that's a big Cerec thing. It's just like our software is really straightforward. I mean, the end. Thomas.Boran: Come a long way.

Yes, it has come a long way, because it used to be definitely high intensity of, you know, learning curve, and and you know all, and even the capturing, the powdering, everything like that, you know, like it was definitely technique sensitive. But when I saw Glidewell's product I was just like. and especially for the price. I was just like this actually is a good thing, and it's going to get it into so many more offices. So it was not just butting heads with sirec. It was like a different

game it was. It was not like you were going to play football players at football. You were going to say you go ahead and play football. We're going to play pickleball because a lot of people like pickleball, and we're going to just do a different game, you know, and it's not right or wrong, it's it's the outcome still, going to be the same you're exercising. But you know, like it's just a different game altogether.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: But but so what I what I want to kind of talk about here is when you looked at it, you looked at it through their lens of having experienced CAD cam. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: for I don't know. 13 years. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: 13 years. Yeah. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: And it's

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: it. It's easy now, because I've been using it since November, and I've and I've learned to do it. And it was really sweet. My my dental assistant walked in, and I was designing a bridge, and she's like, man. You've gotten really good at it. I have. You know I've designed, and we've milled probably maybe around a hundred units. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: But it's not like the learning curve is steep

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: and or maybe it was just steep for me. I don't know, but I don't know if you've heard people say that some of this technology just Dr. Maggie Augustyn: ends up as an expensive coat rack right? Because implementing.

Thomas.Boran: Cadcam technology into the workflow of a practice. And actually, when I was considering buying it, I talked to some people, and I talked to Paul Feuerstein, who is like one of the top authorities in technology. He's the editor editor in Chief of dentistry today. He knows everything there is to know about, you know, emerging.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Technology. And he said, You know, if you like it great! Just know that it's not as easy as you think it is. And I'm like, Paul, you know I'll make it, you know. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: and but and and Paul's like my godfather in dentistry. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: and he was right, incorporating that into the workflow of my day

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: is, and learning to be a technician as a dentist, as easy as it kind of sounds have been. 2, probably of the biggest Dr. Maggie Augustyn: pain points, however, resolving them and overcoming them, has now made it feel like it's Christmas every day Dr. Maggie Augustyn: like. So my husband and Reagan knows this, and and Reagan's kind of like Scott is a huge gamer like he just can't get enough of video games. And I don't understand video games. I just don't get it.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Yeah, there's like some dopa. I don't. Whether it's holding a mouse or like I don't. I don't know what it is. Thomas.Boran: Reward and control. Thomas.Boran: You're controlling your outcomes. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: You know what video games are about. Thomas.Boran: Yeah, they say, and you can fact check this Reagan. But they say, surgeons that play video games make 25 to 30% less errors.

Well, yeah, you have a lot of hand eye coordination depending on the game that you're playing for. Sure. Absolutely. There's I could go on for hours. But this isn't a video game thing. I just I wanted to celebrate for a moment that I think Dennis are part engineer and part artist.

and and this feels like this is bridging both of them, and there is something from an artist's mindset. I'm an artist, and it's so difficult when you're learning, and you put your hand down on paper and you can see it in your head. You know exactly what you want to create, and you can't make that chasm in between mind, heart, and hand work. And this is closing that gap like it's making it easy, effective. So I, when you said that I just saw your artist heart

jumping out and being like, Wow! Now I get it like, this is fun. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: And it makes you a better clinician, like all of a sudden you're like, Oh, shoot! What was I thinking with these margins? The margin, and like. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: What was I thinking with this contact like? So the next time you do your margins better, or the next time you like, you're like, you're really paying attention to that contact. And it's.

I explain to my patients. I don't really think of it as much as much as a video game. But I just say we're photoshopping your tooth. And people get that, you know, because it's it's artistry. But then the thing, too, is, if if your crown is showing thin because you didn't prep enough here instead of the lab technician for the last 50 years telling dentists that's not enough thickness. And then we go. Yes, it is. And then we look and we go. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: The work.

Oh, you mean except right there. Oh, well, now, that makes sense like we. We have to own it. We can't. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Yeah. It on someone else. You have to own it. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Yeah, or like, it's like, Oh, I'm going to need to reduce the opposing. I really don't want to take off that enamel. So the next it was like, either you go back and you reprep or. That's right. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: These lessons you learn in real time, and you learn. In real time.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: They land differently on you when you're using your own CAD cam technology, and when you're designing your own crowns. But there's a price to be paid, I remember, so we bought it in. We we bought it like October ish. November second was the training, and then, I remember I would spend like 7 HA week learning this stupid thing. Pardon my language, but it I was really. It's frustrating, sure. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Thing out the window.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: It was hard. It was really hard spending that much time learning to use all the tools. Learning to understand like Dr. Maggie Augustyn: thinking like a technician and a dentist at the same time. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: That was really hard. It took an investment of my time around Christmas when I didn't have time, and that was really frustrating. And there were times, I think I'm sure I called Tom, and I'm like, Hey, how many people returned this thing. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Right? Because.

click. Do you get a lot of calls, Tom, about that like, like, Okay, I'm i i. The initial purchase aura has worn off like the adrenaline has worn off, and now it's reality, and I don't want to be one of those dentists that puts it in the corner. Thomas.Boran: Well, sometimes it's so going back into it, being rewarding, learning, it's uncomfortable. You're spending time to learn. It's uncomfortable to sometimes make these big purchasing decisions. Right? So the

Thomas.Boran: you know, the remorse can get real. But I would say to that, it also speaks to your point, Reagan, on Dr. Maggie, being a an artist, you know, and and wanting everything and tweak, and trying to find out her perfect zone of what she wants to see out of the system where the majority of my users.

Thomas.Boran: when they see a 1 click design process. And that's how it comes out of our lab man that. Okay, this is great. This is from a economic standpoint, my teams can do it. I'm going to validate the margins. And it's it's a 2 to 4 min design process, and I've got somebody doing a hundred units a month buying their second and 3rd mill within their 1st year. So what I would lend to with that buyer remorse where, I say, we are insanely different. Mr. Glidewell

Thomas.Boran: truly has a a vision to to push the industry forward to support his customers. If you've ever worked with Glidewell fact that we do so much and most of the time we get it right when we don't get it right. We make it right. And so we do have the opportunity. When you know, contracting or or doing business.

Thomas.Boran: we give you a 90 day, Mark, we want you to go to an advanced training because we're not going to nickel and dime you on on installation and training materials and all. We want you to have that experience because you bought into that experience because you saw a vision for your practice, and we want to see that through. And if we can't, for some reason, I mean, I've had the weirdest reasons. We've made it right.

Thomas.Boran: And so that is few and far between, because we couldn't offer that no risk if 98.2% of the time it didn't stick. So I feel good about that in terms of our company standing by it. Hence you won't see our units on ebay. I see $120,000 units from competitors on ebay all the time in older generations and such. So we actually have a boneyard, if you will, that we try. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Yes, that was cool. I actually recorded a Marco Polo.

Thomas.Boran: The second mill is nice. It gives you the opportunity to do multiple units at a quadrant designed side by side opposings. You know, we see all things in dentistry, and so having the capacity, you know, does make a lot of sense.

My assistants will joke or say that the milling that the Prime Mill is better, and it'll be faster. And I say, no, the Mcxl is better, and it'll be faster, and they're done within a minute of each other, and we just joke around like which one finished, and then they'll say, Look might finish first, st and I'll be like, yeah. Well, the Sprue is smaller on the Mcxl, so big deal. And so that kind of stuff, Tom, I have a question for for people using your system.

Let's. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Our system, actually. Your plural, your system? Yes. Thomas.Boran: All of our systems. Y'all's y'all's system. Thomas.Boran: Y'alls. Yes, so do you. Does a doctor have the opportunity to scan it and remotely have all the the technical design stuff done. and then shipped back to Millet. It sounds like that's that's an option right. Thomas.Boran: Design as a service. Correct.

Thomas.Boran: We? We do have that. And it's nominal. So if you don't want to touch the design process, whatsoever, you basically send us a scan listed. Check the box as design as a service from like $10 a unit. If you're Thomas.Boran: doing a bridge, and it's complicated cantilever, whatever that might look like in those scenarios. I don't want to touch it. $10 a unit. We'll turn it around in about 20 min. The

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: I can give you an example of that. So I had, you know, a couple of things going on at the same time. I did a couple of endose extractions and 2 bridges on a guy, and I was milling him temps, and I just didn't have the time to design it, because I needed to be with another patient. Yeah.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Production. And so I ended up sending it to Glidewell to design those 2 bridges. And so they designed those 2 bridges, and and so, but milling those 2 bridges took about an hour each, because they were 2, 3 unit bridges in temps. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: and and so they designed it for me. And then we milled it immediately after I posted that on my Facebook. That post got almost 30,000 views.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: That that entire clinical case! So we went from like really broken nasty. I shouldn't say nasty but rotten teeth if I'm quoting Dr. Wade Kiefer. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Into these beautiful, I mean, they just looked like permanent restorations. Thomas.Boran: Biotech. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: At oh! Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Within within several hours.

Thomas.Boran: So, Dr. Chad, we also have support. So if your hands on the mouse and you're learning that same team that would design those units, design those units with you for free. Oh, that's kind of cool. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Yeah, and they they'll they'll pick up the phone within 2 2 rings.

Yeah. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: You're not waiting half a day to get somebody to call you, I mean, I am so impressed with Glidewell, that is not the norm today, when you're buying Dr. Maggie Augustyn: many things in dentistry that you're spending $50708090000. Sure. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: That is not the norm. I mean, I bought a Cbct machine. I had some problems. They're worked out now. I bought a scanner. Lots of problems with that.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: That has not been the issue with Glidewell, like Mr. Glidewell. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: invest so much technology, so much money into the company, into the team. He's so compassionate with the people that that work in that company, and when you are on campus, so once you buy the machine, you go back you go back for training, and the 1st training is at no charge to you. They pay for your flight, hotel meals, everything. You see.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: The leadership. You see, you can feel how Dr. Maggie Augustyn: everyone they're just happy over there. I mean, maybe it's a sunshine, California. But you just you don't see that everywhere. It's not plastic, it's not fake. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: It's just a different company that that you end up engaging in, that you end up starting a relationship with

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: yeah. And that's also been really transformative. I mean, I don't know anything about Cerric, right? But that's just another another hash mark for for Glidewell. Thomas.Boran: You describe your in office trainer. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Oh, she she's incredible! So so she was here for Dr. Maggie Augustyn: for the 1st day, and she tested the machine. Then she was here with us for the entire day. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: And then she I have her cell phone number.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: I can. She's very responsive. If she can't get to me that moment she will call me back, or she will message me back. And then she was at the class when we went to California. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: extremely personable. So she was a lab tech herself. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: She she knew exactly what she was doing. She was able to answer all of our questions, very easy to talk to, just Dr. Maggie Augustyn: wonderful

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: the fact that they will fly somebody to you, I mean, she was kind of between Texas and Florida. She was living kind of. She was moving when she came to see us. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: They fly somebody to you to teach you how to how to use the software in the mill.

Thomas.Boran: And then to speak to that, too. We'll also fly somebody to you to you got hardware. So talking to software so things can happen, Dr. Chad, I'm sure you can attest to a burlodge or something inconvenient happening. All of these systems will have something happen, especially utilizing them. Yes. Thomas.Boran: You will. We have a vested interest to fix your system. If you're cutting 6 crowns a day, you send those to our lab.

We push you to the front of the line, and we overnight free restorations and too. Thomas.Boran: We fix it. So we have a true interest of getting somebody out there. So you realize same day again. Right? So even though it's next day we've got you supported because we're different company, and we have the lab behind us that really supports us. You know, as the big brother of this I/O, or in Office division.

Yep, that's cool. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: And the patients that have started to find out about the same day crowns Dr. Maggie Augustyn: so the way that we have figured it out again. We're we're kind of new at this right. We've been doing it for for 6 months. We'll schedule them in the morning.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: And then we'll scan them, and then at some point I go in. My team will design, and I'll go in and edit the design or audit the design, and then we press play, and they'll come in like after lunch Dr. Maggie Augustyn: to have that cemented, and and once they have a taste of this.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: they never want to go back to having a temp again, so they'll say I don't care. I'll stay here all day as long as I want, as long as I get my crown the same day, and then, you know, every now and again I'll mill it, and it's got an open contact. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: And so again you just go in for a few seconds. You fix that, and you're like. Yeah.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: I'm staying another 40 min. No, not at all. So just press play again, and and there's no back and forth with Oh, man, that didn't fit. I gotta rescan you know it. Just Dr. Maggie Augustyn: it. It. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: It's phenomenal having this. And then we're one of the few people again in the area that offer that service.

to do something different. I'm curious because, Maggie, you mentioned it, too. There is a lot of things that patients have no idea even exists, myself included, and it's been a long learning curve to really understand what exactly is available to us, not as just clinicians, but as patients

in all of your experience. Have you seen practices like when they're educating patients? What is kind of a pattern, you see, of those that do a really great job? What are they doing that that we can benefit from. Thomas.Boran: Dr. Maggie, would you like to speak to how you have started to change your communications with patients? And then I'll piggyback on that. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Clap, clap, clap. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: So so, Tom, I just sent Reagan a message, saying, Could you please.

She was like, can you take over this now? Dr. Maggie Augustyn: So I think I've talked to. But. Thomas.Boran: I don't know. Talk too much.

Thomas.Boran: Existing publisher. What's it called? What. Thomas.Boran: Glycine, air, polisher. It's. Thomas.Boran: Polishes the teeth instead of the perfect cup. It's like wonderful. It's like going through the car. Wash.

It's sexy. It's wonderful. It makes my life as a patient so happy, and my dentist bought one for our hygienist, and I didn't know, didn't know about it, and then it was used on me, and I was like everybody in the world deserves to know. This exists because I can guarantee you. Trophies will be scheduled a lot more if they knew how comfortable it could be with this beautiful device and this beautiful, quaist trained hygienist, and on and on

but that if that message doesn't get out, if we don't educate our patients on what this can do, then they just don't know that it exists. And so I'm just curious, genuinely you know, Maggie, have you shifted your marketing to to talk about same day crowns and talk about the benefits of it. And then and then Thomas, with all of you, know the the clients that you've served. Have you seen them.

you know, switch up their marketing campaign, or just hear anecdotally. You know, patients love this or this is what I've noticed after they get over that initial learning curve which, by the way, I don't want to scroll too much, but that's amazing. You offer support. You offer the do it with you. Which reminds me of when, like I got. I think it was like a Ct. Scan, and they explained to me, oh, yeah, it'll get. It'll get reviewed right now from somebody in Argentina, or wherever, but it was like 24 h service.

It's really cool, like, I had no idea that that existed either. So so what are we doing to get it out in the market and and show people like this is this is moving dentistry forward.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: So yeah, we have some blogs. We have some videos. We have some social media posts that we talk to patients about. But there's nothing better than just sitting down to a patient and saying, Hey, you need this crown. Oh! And, by the way, unlike the last times you've had a crown done, whether it was here or somewhere else. There is no more temp. So you come in and we are going to finish this the same day, and at 1st they're just like, Oh, okay.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: and then they don't really get it until it happens. And then, once it happens, they never want to go back. Thomas.Boran: Yeah, I I really feel Thomas.Boran: what's a a bigger shift to a lot of offices, and not necessarily the, you know. Thomas.Boran: pro, you know, productive dental offices. Right? Because you guys are the really the top.

Thomas.Boran: you know, 1% of practitioners. And the way you run your offices. But a lot of offices struggle with explaining dentistry because it's the dental jargon to patients. So I feel a lot of this digital technology has shifted the game into visualization. So when the patient can see it, they can believe it. And speaking of doing more comprehensive dentistry that's going to best serve

Thomas.Boran: our patients when they see it. And they understand. Okay, well, I've broken off so much. My tooth, I'm going to need to build up. What's a build up? I called in, and you said you were going to do a crown. Well, here, let me show you on the scan why, your tooth needs to be built up, and then this is what that actual prototype or cap crown is going to look like. So it's almost dialing back the communications of how we talk dentist to dentist to

Thomas.Boran: let me show the patient, and you can show them a lot through visualization, or even like design as a service. So I was in from a Management service aspect Thomas.Boran: personally invested in a private practice. And the my boss, currently now and really, dear friend, I worked with him 15 years ago at A at a lab called Dinmat did product supply services, and he tried to sell me one of these I/O mills, and I said, we do a lot of we could do 30, 40% of our production in soft tissue.

Thomas.Boran: And we did a lot of laser dentistry. So I made those investments in the team. We did a lot of aligner therapies, so we had the iteros. We were doing comprehensive cases full mouth rehab raising vdo, and I look at it, and like Thomas.Boran: we did 7 crowns last month, I'm not. There's not. Gonna but understanding that the biotemp bridge was there, that we could establish the bite, we could smile design. And if I could, do, you know, with with my dental team one more.

Thomas.Boran: you know, 20 unit case elective dentistry Thomas.Boran: a month or a quarter. I've paid for this machine over and over and over, and we're letting patients test drive their smile. So if they don't like something we're giving them something they would exactly want

Thomas.Boran: from a ceramic restoration. And so, if I came to understand the system like I do now. Having worked with Glidewell for about 2 years. I could see it. You know anybody that just wants to control, or the design or the artistic aspect of it. It's going to pay for itself in that rewarding aspect of being able to go back and serve the patient, or if the volume, like I was doing the volume, I'm cutting, you know, 3 or 4 crowns a day single units. I'm in and

Thomas.Boran: out the volume. Well, then, it's going to pay from itself from a cost standpoint. So it's kind of finding you guys meeting where you where you are at, and then that communicates and trickles down back to the patient on how they see how you communicate. Dentistry starts to change Thomas.Boran: on what they interact or perceive. You're prescribing them. Because, you know, seeing is believing.

Not talking about space I'm talking about when you park the patient in the chair. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Oh! Pilots. Miller, your column runs through. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Well, so I bring them back. I'll send them out. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: I'll send them out so I'll prep them. I'll send them out. And I'm like, you're yeah. You're gonna be a little sensitive. Just avoid that. It's gonna be like you lost the temp. And then, 2 h later, just come back in. So I. Sure.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: And leave them. But that that still changes the workflow. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: You gotta think it out. You definitely have to think it.

See, for example, my one office. I've got 8 operatories. I can prep in one. I can move to the next. If someone else comes in for a limited exam. It's like, Huh! You need a crown on that tooth. Do you want to do it today? Great, we're going to wheel it over, and, you know, start making it then, and I just park them in there while I go back over to my other room, so I can make that kind of capacity work, but I forget not everyone has that. And so that that's something worth considering, that's all.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: I mean this, this has been really enlightening, and I hope that for audiences who are considering CAD cam. One last thing that I want to mention is the way that I was introduced to scanning was through Dandy. I didn't have the money to buy a scanner, so I went through dandy. Since then I have bought my own scanners, but so I was still using Dandy when I got the Glidewell I/O. My bills were like Dr. Maggie Augustyn: 6 to $8,000 a month.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: My last bill with Dandy was $800. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Now Glidewell gives you like a hundred blocks when you buy the I/O, we haven't gone through all. Cool. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: But like like, that's, that's how much I've saved. And they're pre centered pre like for the Syriac people who are just like, Okay, this is just. But I think it's fair to say like something that's a game changer like a paradigm shift.

It's already oven baked, oven centered, and stuff like that. So you're milling with. Thomas.Boran: Joke at the beginning right.

Yes, and and you have, and it's a different new burr every time you mill the block. And then you're just paying Glidewell the nominal fee for the block and stuff like that like that's pretty cool, and that's a paradigm shift for people to think about. If they're going from 0 systems to Glidewell, or from Cerec to Glidewell, or from Glidewell to Cerec. However, you know that there'd be a change in how you do that. That was the vision. Yes.

Thomas.Boran: For Mr. Glidewell. It was to make it simple. You know, we've made everything Thomas.Boran: computer machines, robots in the lab. So we can do so much from a production standpoint the simplicity of an office was needed to really shake or disrupt those market factors with those with scanners that love their labs. Thomas.Boran: heck our lab will return a crown in

Thomas.Boran: like 3 to 5 business days from a digital scan. So, being able to do it in office. You wanted it simple. So that led to the materials we actually make and manufacture the materials. So it being pre centered, doesn't allow that extra step. Your assistant that needs to hop the room to go. Put it in the oven, bake or rebake recenter. It's just ready to mill and then be polished. And then see, yeah, I think simplicity is a lot of the charm and the materials advantage that we have.

Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Any. Dr. Maggie Augustyn: Go ahead.

Thomas.Boran: Yeah, so I do the song and dance, and I'm pretty used to it. The Glidewell facilities are, you know, just remarkable. Get there if you can. It's way better than just seeing me, that is, in Newport Beach, Irvine. So really, if you fly into Santa Ana, John Wayne County Airport, Orange County Airport. You walk across the street and Glidewell's there. Thomas.Boran: My 3.rd Yeah. Thomas.Boran: Your campus so very easy to get to or talk to me how you would like to visit and we can.

Thomas.Boran: Information, and then I'll help coordinate that.