The Pace of Progress
December always seems to roll around so quickly. What seemed like a long year, suddenly, is coming to a close. As usual, I am sure that most of us are not as prepared as we intended. Holiday party plans, time off, and, oh yes, of course, the push to finish our work—there never seems to be enough time. No matter how up or down the business year was for most of our laboratories, December always seems the same: busy!
In this December issue, Jason Mazda's feature, "Trends in Dentistry," discusses several key points on the growth and changes in our profession trending over the past year and into the foreseeable future. Will the increased use of technology in clinical practices and the increased number of "in-house" technicians and assistant trainees affect the close of the year for your laboratory? Although that was not the central point of the article, it nevertheless caused me to consider that question, as I feel confident that most technicians feel pressure from chairside options. Interestingly enough, we know that history repeats itself, and we, as a profession, have been through this before.
The first time I felt that I could be replaced was in my first part-time laboratory job. I worked after school and learned model work. After a year or two, I started to learn how to wax copings for metal casting: dipping a stone die into a wax pot, cutting the wax to the margin, and flowing what would be the collar. I would clean the collar and define the ideal margin, appreciating the precision in trying to make it perfect. After I had become competent and felt as if this might be my profession, a salesperson came into the laboratory and challenged my perspective. Essentially, he informed me that the work I was doing would, in all likelihood, be useless in the future because the new products he was selling—powdered metal—would eliminate the need for coping waxers. I was afraid that the skill that I had been learning would become obsolete.
That was 1985. Contrary to this prediction, and despite the technical advancements our industry has seen, as we know, there are laboratories today that still wax and cast as I did in 1985.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the regulations on dental work changed in Europe, and many well-trained dental technicians immigrated to the US. In the late 1990s, new processes involving alumina and several other new materials came to fruition, and by 2005, zirconia was in play. Similarly, the first cellular phone came out in 1973, and the technology was available to the public within 10 years, but the first iPhone was not released until 2007. Technology and advancements are often implemented into the mainstream rather slowly.
Today, the advancements and changes being made in 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and in-office CAD/CAM seem to be what we anticipate and, perhaps, fear the most. Changes come in all professions and must be expected and addressed. Despite the newer technology that we may need to implement to continue thriving in our field, I encourage our profession to embrace the evolution, as the knowledgeable technician will need to stay ahead of the curve to prosper in the coming years.
As we look forward to 2024, the future of the profession remains bright, and in closing, all of us at the IDT team wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season.
Peter Pizzi, MDT, CDT
Editor-in-Chief
peter.pizzi@broadcastmed.com
