It's hard to believe 2019 has come and gone. It was an exciting year for Whip Mix as we celebrated our 100th year. We want to thank everyone who partook in our celebratory efforts, and we are optimistic about the next 100 years. We want to take this opportunity to share with you our most popular blog articles from 2019 and a few you may have missed. Enjoy!
Open vs Closed 3D Printers and the FDA
There is a lot to consider when buying a 3D printer. Over the last few years we have seen a flood of new printers hit the market for the dental industry. So how do you determine which printer will best suit your needs? There are a lot of things to take into consideration… do you buy a printer that is a true open materials printer, or do you go with a closed system where you are limited to just the resins they manufacture or have private labeled? Do you buy a $3,000 printer or do you get the mid-range printer at $15,000 or maybe the printer that you can lease for $50,000 a year that gives you incredible onsite service?
Understanding Open Source 3D Printing
The dental lab industry is very aware of open versus closed systems when it comes to scanners and milling systems, but did you know this also applies to 3D printers? Additive manufacturing, otherwise known as 3D printing, is gaining a lot of traction in the lab industry and rightfully so. I was talking to a competitor last week that sells 3Shape lab scanners and Trios intra-oral scanners and he said their intra-oral scanner sales have eclipsed their lab scanner sales.
Intelligent Guessing in Arbitrary Articulation
When it comes to mounting patient cases on Full Frame Articulators, we always hope that there is good patient information that comes along with the impression. That information should include a good Facebow registration, a bite registration, and perhaps a protrusive bite registration. However, the fact of the matter is that most of the time none of that information is available.
Storage of Gypsum Products
Most dental gypsums begin their life as Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate (CaSO4 . 2H2O), mined from the ground in specific areas throughout the world. Through a heating and crushing process, it becomes Calcium Sulfate Hemihydrate (CaSO4 . 1/2H2O) due to a loss of water in the process. With unique additives and colorants, we develop the dental stones we use daily in the lab and dental office.
Asiga MAX Doubles Business for Small Ortho Lab!
Last year, Whip Mix had our first Orthodontic Lab purchase the Asiga Max 3D printer. K&B Orthodontics Lab started in 1997 in Jane Hyatt’s mother’s basement in Connecticut. A couple of years ago, Jane’s daughter Kristen Benitez graduated college and decided to join her mom in their small two-person lab. It wasn't long before Kristen encouraged her mom to go digital, so in 2018 K&B decided to purchase their first Asiga MAX 3D printer. After 6 months of using it, they had to purchase another MAX in order to keep up with their new business.
Don’t you hate wasting resin? We do, too! Here’s a solution.
In order to use as much resin in the bottle as possible, we have created adaptors that you can print yourself! They are specifically for Asiga Pro trays. The simple device allows the resin in Whip Mix bottles to fully drain into the tray. We estimate that the adaptor can save up to fifty grams of resin per bottle, letting you get the most out of your purchase.
Tired of Soft or Brittle Gypsum Models? There is a Solution.
There are instances when dental models break easily, flake at margins, or are just too soft. There is an easy fix for that. There is a product that increases the hardness and decreases the brittleness, and even aids in reducing bubbles in the pour. It also increases the flow-ability or fluidity of gypsum products in dentistry. Using it is super easy.
Which 3D Printer is Right for Your Lab?
Every month more and more dental laboratories are adopting 3D printing technology. Sometimes labs feel forced into purchasing one because their accounts are using intraoral scanners for digital impressions and they need to stay competitive in order to keep those accounts. Understandable, but 3D printers are not just for printing accurate models.The uses are almost unlimited. Today the amazing growth of the technology can be linked to the rapidly growing applications.
Proper Setup of the 3Shape Virtual Articulator with Full Arch Mounted Models Part 1
One of the most important steps in the design of any monolithic restoration is proper functional adjustment during design using the 3Shape virtual articulator. This is especially true for zirconia as this material ideally should not be ground on after sintering... or at least ground on as little as possible to avoid damaging the structure potentially leading to premature failure.
Ancient Articulators and Moving Forward
I have just returned from a day spent at a major dental school, where our team checked the calibration on nearly 100 Hanau and Whip Mix articulators. These instruments are less than four years old and used in a closed educational setting, yet still a large percentage of them needed adjustment to bring them back to their factory settings and function.
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