Justin Marks, CDT

Justin Marks, CDT, is a laboratory owner, manufacturer, professor, and lecturer, among other roles. The common thread is a passion for removable prosthodontics, especially digital dentures, and at Master-Touch Dental Lab in Brooklyn, New York, he uses milling machines from DGSHAPE, a Roland company.

1. What were you looking for in a digital denture system?

With today's technology, there is no reason to be waxing dentures and packing acrylic. The first systems that were available for full dentures were purely outsource models, but I wanted an in-house system. I was already scanning, designing, and 3D printing, so I just needed a machine to mill PMMA efficiently and precisely. I researched machines and eventually developed a really good relationship with Roland.

2. How have the Roland mills fit into your workflow?

The Roland mills have been great. Reliability is the most significant benefit; we have had hardly any downtime with the machine. It is really well-built and well-engineered. For a smaller machine, it is very rugged, and we do a lot with it. Each new model that Roland has released features impressive updates to help improve our workflow.

3. Has anything about the mills surprised you?

The most surprising element has been the CAM software and how much impact it has on the mills-both milling time and quality. The machines certainly have improved over the years with each new release, but the biggest improvements we have seen have been in the software. Even our older Roland mills have become even more effective with software upgrades.

4. What have the results been in terms of quality?

We make a conscious effort to not tell our dentists any time we digitize a product for the first time, and they have not noticed any difference. It was a seamless transition. I wanted it to help me operationally on the back end without requiring changes in pricing structure or materials. The quality is on par with what we were doing by hand, and probably more streamlined because there is less opportunity for error. I can focus on other efforts because I'm not grinding away at the bench.