High voice of the community. I'm Laura Prosser, the digital marketing manager here for Ivoclar North America. And I would like to invite you to start following us on Instagram. It's your chance to obtain exclusive updates on product announcements, industry news, upcoming educational events, and heartwarming stories about our local team and industry professionals. So let's get social together! Simply start following us on Instagram at. That's Instagram at. We'll see you there. Welcome to voices from the bench, a dental laboratory podcast. Send us an email at info at voices from the bench and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Greetings and welcome to episode 377 of voices from the. My name is Elvis and my name is Barbara. Grandma. I got to keep saying that grandma is tired of it. I'm sorry y'all. Yeah, I'm old and I don't care. Well, you can use it until you became great grandmother. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. So what's happening? How are you? This is weird for us. We are recording on a Wednesday evening because. Getting ready for FDLE, getting ready to take off. Yeah, uh, we usually connect on a, you know, Saturday connect whenever, anywhere, anytime. Because you know why? Because we are committed. That comes from me. That's so true. But yeah, it's when it's whenever it's whenever Barb's available. No it's not, it's I take it when I can get it. How is your week going? Are you. Are you all busy in the lab right now? Oh my God, yes. Are you really? Yes. I don't even think you need to ask me how I'm doing right now, because I'm really busy. I'm really committed to Caleb. I leave tomorrow morning at 6 a.m., super stressed, but all day you buy your ticket like an hour ago. I bought it two days ago. You know, for all, you gotta buy it when you get there. For all you people out there that don't get your ticket three months early, I'm your girl. So yes, I just bought it. I think it was Sunday. Yeah, four days ago. It's a great group of people running that board at Colab, so I'm pretty excited to see what future shows. Thank you. You're your chair for five years. Oh, God. I think it's four, maybe five, and there's no pressure there. But you know what, I. I'm committed to the pressure. I finally wrap my mind around the pressure. Yeah, I'm good with it now. Took me about two years to do. Fantastic. Yeah. You're gonna do great. So talk to me. What are you up to? I know you're going to the FDA. Yeah. Other than that, I'm just. I'm. I'm rolling, man every day. I've got a bunch of chair sides, and business is rolling in, and, I mean, it's it's actually pretty good and steady right now. I'm not complaining. Yeah. I'm busy. Not too busy and not too slow. I'm too busy. Too busy and too busy. That's okay. I'm sure if I actually did the work, I would be busy. No, I think you're busy. You just don't give yourself credit. So. Yeah. Moving on. Because again, for the third time, we're going to take you back to a time when most of the dental industry all came to Cologne, Germany, for the IDs show back in March. Now, Bob and I don't usually get to go to this show, but it was the wonderful and amazing people of Exo CAD that made all of this possible. So if you don't have XO cat in your lab, I highly suggest you get it today. I agree. And if you do have it in your lab, go get another one. Show them the kind of love that they showed us. I think Lexus got, I think maybe like more than 70 licenses. It's kind of scary. 70? Sorry. Yeah, I think so. 70. So I will tell you guys that it's amazing. Yeah. I know you all love it over there. And we do all of our big cases with it at Derby. I mean, it's amazing. I love it too. All right, so we are starting this week's conversation with somebody that I actually worked with, Doctor Maneesh Chopra. Doctor Chopra took the time, energy and money to become a dentist in his home country of India. But because what we do is so very cool, he kind of liked the lamp side a little better. I don't know why, but I actually do, I know why. But specifically the CAD part of it. After owning a lab for a while, he met the president who's amazing of Lexer Lab Group, who's Harmeet Bindra, and was tasked to create a design center in India to help with the workflow, which I was a part of, I would say probably ten years ago. So they went from two people to 300, which is nuts to me. I know that is nuts to me, but he learned how to scale production and how to train. Now he is focusing on using VR technology to help train technicians and dentists around the world, which we got a piece of it at the Ides and it was pretty freaking cool, actually. I got a piece of it in Tampa and I'm just like, wow, this is pretty amazing. So yes, it's awesome in technology. Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm getting better. You'd be surprised. Copy and paste is next. Yeah. And then one of our favorite past podcast guests. That's so hard to say. Past podcast guests stopped by to update us on all things. I have a good dude, Tobias. Yes. Tobias is out of the Everclear headquarters in Liechtenstein Liechtenstein, and is the senior director, global business unit lab digital Guy. You know what that means? He has a lot to do with digital cars. Digital. Yeah. He comes on to update us on them. Celebrating 20 years of iMacs, their new Evo printed base and how easy it is to realign. Super excited about that and what Everclear has going on at IDs and both of their booths. And an exciting new way to mill iMacs even faster. Crazy. Mhm. So join us as we chat with Maneesh and Tobias Specht. Voices from the bench. The interview. You can. You can do your IDs. 2025 Cologne, Germany. Yeah, it's still kind of amazing. What are we on day two? Yes. And this day has been spectacular. Yes. Apparently everybody shows up on Wednesday. Yeah. No doubt. I'll see you at the Excel card booth. Yep. Thank you. XO. CAD. Wonderful. Thank you. That bar? No shows. Yes, sir. Doctor. Manisha. Bra. Is that correctly said? Yes. Doctor Manish Chopra, two ages two. Interesting. Yeah. So he and I have known each other. So we've worked with lexer for God, like, at least ten years. Yeah, I was there for close to more than nine years. Yeah, you can say. So you were. He created the design center? Yeah. Back in India, back in India, and came to the US for months and stayed with us and learned about the business. But you can tell the story better than I can. So, yeah. So, um, you know, the the founder of Lexia, he was looking for somebody to lead, uh, the design center in India. And, uh, I was, uh, may I was the chosen one, I guess. How did that mean? Was it a job you applied for or so? Uh, I'll tell you this. Did you know him? I know, no. Okay. We just met once, and, um. So. So I graduated in 2007. Uh, I started off a couple of years as a dentist. As a dentist. Okay. So you went to dental school? You're. Yes. Okay. So? So a couple of years, I did my. What do you say? The clinical practice. Yeah, along the sides. I was doing the lab stuff as well. And by the time second year, I realized I liked the lab. I love the lab work. Way more than than my clinicals. You're the second dentist. I was just going to say that today. That was that. Why do you people go to school for so long to find out? The lab part's cooler. I could have told you that and saved you six years. I I've even never met. 2002 when I started off my graduation journey. Okay. So you got it. So what, you just connected with it? So. Yeah. So. So beyond the lab part, I was more kind of connected with. We are sitting at XO. So I was connected with more to the CAD part of it, the digital dentistry part of using XO CAD back then. Oh, I don't know that that time. Uh, we use the AC Sirona. Yeah. Super, super new into it. It was. So that was in fact, Delhi's first CAD cam. So I worked on. So I started designing and I felt that right. Delhi's first CAD cam, it was Delhi's first CAD cam in India. So Delhi is capital of India, right? The very first capital you were it I was that I was it was was Sirona in lab Sirona? Is he scanner in lab MCL machine? Yeah, machine and all that stuff. So started designing on that. I really got connected. Like, right away I felt. So I, you know, I felt this is it. What I, what I want to build my career on. So I started one year and I was doing, uh, the one year there was a clinical practice as well as the lab work I was doing simultaneously. When I say lab work, I was majorly doing the CAD. Designing, milling part and all that and the quality control and then let somebody else stay in and glaze it. Yes. So I was I was basically that smart guy. So I was working, uh, for a dental lab, and we, we started off this digital dentistry piece there, and I, I held that business had slash everybody. Yeah. Every kind of position doing every kind of stuff. Sounds like a lab. So. Yeah. Yeah. So pretty much. So that's what I did for almost six odd years. And then, uh, so hermit actually met me in my first lab in 2012. He was looking for somebody to like. Not that time, but he was initially even, uh, he was looking for someone to like. Who? Who should he partner with in the Indian lab? And then he wanted to work with us. Who's Hamid? Is the, uh. He's the founder of lexer. So lexer, which is an American based, no, India based company, but American Labs, right? Yes. Yes. Yeah. But later on in 2015, uh, they reached out to me again. And by the time I had owned my own lab, running for like a couple of years. And then, uh, they wanted somebody to head a design center. I never imagined there can be a design center because just doing the design. So your lab that you had at the time, it was a full, functional, full finish. How big of a lab was it? I mean, oh, so not that big because it was only a couple of years. I was, uh, I, you know, when I entered into my running my own lab, it was like ten people, okay? But it was all digital. Um, yeah, not all digital. We used to do the metal, ceramic, the manual work as well. Okay, sure. Yeah, that was 2012. So. Yeah. But I mean, that's a fab lab. You were running a lab? Yeah. But when I, uh, I kind of. So first year I started as a consultant with Lexia building the design center for them. But then I'll realize this is something amazing, because now we'll be like, I could like. First improve my skills as a designer, as a CAD, as a lab technician, as such, because, you know, once you serve Indian in Indian business, uh, businesses, Indian dental offices, there is a bit of. So there is a different way the US market looks on the quality aspect. So I thought this is a very good learning, uh, opportunity for me. Was America quality better? Uh, I would say the demands are better adequately aesthetically I would say that. Okay, so so then so let me let me stop for just a second. Why did Lexus choose India as the design center? So that's where Harmeet lived. So okay. It's based in Lexus, was created by Harmeet Bindra in India. Yeah. In India. So he already owned labs in India before he moved to the U.S.. So they they had this couple of labs in us already, uh, brought uh, okay. Bot, which is one of them was nice. Yeah. And then uh, and then the back end part of it. Yeah. They wanted to automate and have more control. So that's where they were looking for. First step was to have a design piece ready and then eventually a dental lab, which is a which will be a back end support for kind of a off shore product offering. Okay. Yeah. For the US market. So that was the plan. But the first step was to get the design center going. And you were the guy they looked at and said, how can we make this happen? And you said, I have no idea or no, I, I when I looked at the opportunity and I thought, one is a very good growth for me, myself and then I'll. So to me doing a design centerpiece is like you was you were in India, but you were serving globally like you were you were so reaching out to far more greater or bigger market. So for for me, that was a very good opportunity there. And then uh, so we started off with two people, our design center myself, and there was another guy. It's not a dental guy. It was an engineer. So I had this concept of, you know. If I take a dental guy from an Indian industry, I need to unlearn, make the unlearning thing, and then make the learning thing very well said and very true. It's true with anybody if you bring them from another lab or whatever. Yeah. And especially the digital part of it, when you're talking about only the design piece. I thought, you know, they're not they were not good like the they were not many, uh, you know, uh, people I could, you know, right away talent I could grab from the market and start off. Yeah. So it was very newish that time as well. What software is it still the Sirona? We started with, uh, you know, at that time, we started with three shape. Okay. Perfect. Yeah. And then, um. Yeah, right now we have, like, like, you know, in next year, uh, the design center was talking about is 5050 of three shape. So good to have all this is bigger, uh, in, you know, in terms of numbers. So then it started. So two, two people down to like, say, 300 people, 300. By the time I kind of felt okay. Now I have done and streamline this entire 300. Yeah. 300. All for Alexa. Or do you do. It's worldwide now. So other we answer that Alexa can use. Yes. And they're all people I mean they're not a I it's all no no no no no no no. All people have to travel and train. Exactly. So that was the, uh, thing where we, we designed our like, curriculum. Uh, you know, obviously there was a lot of learning. I came to you as met Barb and other, uh, technicians and what they require, like, in terms of what I was talking about, what a US market will demand in terms of aesthetically. Yeah. So I kind of did that unlearning thing for myself. Yeah. And came and, you know, learned what was the requirement and, and kind of created this whole curriculum for the design center. And you went back and taught 299 people. Not not right away, of course, it took ten years. Wow. Eight years. Seven. Uh, so by the time we were like, uh, in the fifth year of operations, we were already 200 plus. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So 300 people, you're like, this is. So I'll tell you this now. So, uh, cutting that earlier piece of journey, uh, like, fast tracking that piece. Yeah. So what? Uh. I thought so. Training is definitely a very, very, very important aspect here. Like you bring a non dental person and then you literally, um, you know, uh, make them a world class designer and that, that is a journey. And, uh, while this curriculum was, you know, great. And, you know, but it's to me there, there was a limit of like, there is always a limit of scaling when you're doing like offline or a hands on kind of training. Yeah. You you do require a bigger trainer team in order to keep on improving and keep on expanding the team and all that stuff. That's insane. So by the time, um, so a couple of years earlier, uh, then, uh, today. So I realized, you know, I need to do something else, because now this is all set. But I needed to grow, I needed to I wanted to do something on training a piece because that to me, I'm. I'm very passionate about training because all my entire. Even though, uh, entire starting with 2008, uh, with the lab, uh, like the clinical as well as the lab piece, I'm training people, like, um, you know, from that journey, but I, I felt there is a requirement of much more than what we are doing currently. Yeah. So having said that, there are a couple of, uh, you know, models of training. Usually one is an online training and then is an offline training. Yeah. Online is just simply see the videos and learn the stuff, the learn the process and get it, you know, start try to implement these processes and it's hard. And then it's offline model where somebody is there. Like for example, hands on courses. They're a couple of days, you know, you you, you make a training, go through that entire course. But then again, there is nothing to practice on. So one of the fine days I was actually I took this training, very interesting training of how an airline crew member will, uh, handle an emergency on a virtual reality, uh, virtual reality on a VR headset. I, I took that training. To me, that was. How did you take the train? Just like. No, I, I went to a as I told you, you know, I love to explore new stuff and I'm, I'm, I'm more of a kind of a dental, but a techie guy. Yeah. So as a tech kind of guy, because all of my life I've, I was doing the same thing. But having said that, um, then I, I went to this training. It was cool. I wanted to learn, uh, and, and I went there and I saw, you know, put on the headset. And so basically I was intrigued about the medium. I was, I was VR headset. That and also I was I'm trying to explore what are the more, uh, better avenues of to train someone. And I was, you know, I was telling you we had a huge team and, and and the team, you know, we there's all Gen Z's there, you know. Yeah, yeah. And all the. You imagine a young dental assistant. Yeah. Assistant or designer. They get easily distracted. Yeah. You got to know. You got to teach them in 30s. Yeah. Exactly. Before they lose interest. So to me, uh, so when I took that training, there were two things which clicked right away. Yeah. One, why somebody is not using this technology for dental trainings. Second it. It will be fun, interesting, distraction free for somebody like a, like a young, uh, technician or an assistant or maybe a new dentist to learn a new skill. We put this, uh, create this courses, put this thing on the VR, and then they start using it, and and to me, that was an eye opener. I think it's great. And so. And we are solving the two problems here. One online is the sometimes it gets boring you. You see the videos and then you get this one over here. Exactly. And then the second piece was you do a offline training. Offline trainings are great hands on. You know you do. You are actually doing something. And then I happen to run into a study where when you teach somebody by actually doing it, the more there is far better retention and all that stuff. Sure. So so for me, offline was great, online was scalable. But how do I how do I close this gap? So to me we are was this gap. So once I create for example, there is an amazing hands on training and we put that into VR. Now once a person goes through any kind of training. He come back to his office, dental office, and he puts the headset on and can do practice, practice, practice. It goes through everything. It goes through every year. Have you done it? Yes. She has done it. Yes. Virtually. Like grabbing your scanner and virtually scanning a patient? Yes. So I want to try it. Yes. I have the, like, the headset with me, but we can do that. Like, once we wind up the day. Yeah. That's cool. Uh, so. So, um. And then I told her meet, you know, I, you know, I want to do this. And he readily said he loved the idea, and he really said, let's do it together. So, yeah, they're in it. So my boss earlier is now my partner in this new company. That's awesome. Uh, it's it's called, uh, Digital and Global Academy. Digital global Academy student digital dent global academy and we DGA dental.com. Just to make it easier someday. Dental. Dental. Com. Yeah. So that's where, uh, so when I took that idea, um, you know, now, like, transition from being ahead of the design center and then, uh, last one year, uh, the first app we developed was Itero scanning app for the full arch scanning. That's what I saw. That's cool. And, uh, so Barb tried that, uh, last year in somewhere in August. So by the time, uh, I started working on this, uh, company, uh, starting last year, uh, April. And then we had this first, uh, VR app in, like, four months. Wow. But that is where when we were learning, now we are developing apps even faster. It's like one and a half, two months. Yeah. They don't mess around. Yeah. It's a very rapid growth. So, Barb, when you did it, did you learn something? Did you learn how to do how to scan, like, as you used to teach a patient, right. Yeah. Let's work. So she actually. So it's. It's very interesting when you put this headset on. You're not looking at something, you're actually doing it. You're doing it. So it's like. So we work on two kind of models. Like one is try me version or we call it as try me or guide me. Yeah. And then it's a test me version. So try me or guide me something. Where which Bob took was uh, she put that headset and then there was a itero scanning. Uh, so the instructions were going on one step at a time, telling you it's kind of a guided, awesome, guided voiceover training. But in virtual reality, doing it, it's it's very fascinating. Cool. So so now when you do it and what we, uh, you know, what we recommend, uh, of somebody who's learning a new skill. They do the try me part, like at least ten, 15 times. Yeah. They get the knack of the process end to end, and then finally they can move on and graduate to do the test. Me? Test me. There are no instructions. So now, since you have understood the entire process, now you can, you know, test your skills. You will be rated at the end. Like for example, how did you do? How did you do good? Did you do? Did you get it all? She did only the training. She she did only for a couple of times. Uh uh, I'm not in my like late 20s and 30s. I mean, the, the, the younger generation of doctors are going to put this on and just be like, getting it right. Yeah. It's going to train them. They're going to understand it. They're into that technology. They probably have. It's what jazzes them. You know, Barbara found it fascinating. But it was difficult for me. But I believe that I am not the norm of what they're trying to. You're not the market. Yeah, I I'll tell you this, uh, for anybody. And, Bob, no offense, but for anyone, even for any age. Yeah, you do it for a couple of time. Three times. You get a knack of the controls. It's all about having the right like you know you. Because sometimes when you're trying this new technology, you don't know the controls. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. So yeah. So so by that, um, you know, feedback, what we did is now we are even having a orientation app. Okay. That's like you get the orientation for. So you, so you put this headset on everything. So it will teach you what the controls are. What is the environment. What is the you know what. What is everything. So so that you know, because once we did the testing. Yeah I was there to guide you as well. I know, but imagine we are having these headsets to the dental offices. So, so now the journey is they go to the orientation app, they learn the controls, they learn the how to use it, and then they go on to the learning apps, which is try me and test me versions now. Now, for example, I'm a head clinician. And I decide, okay, this is my assistant who wants to get trained on these all areas. And that's what we have on the headset. Yeah. So they, you know, they try it on for the like multiple times. And once they understand the entire process, they move on to test me. And then once they start rating themselves like say a plus, the the clinician, the head clinician or the trainer can decide, okay, now you're ready to do the actual patient. Oh so sweet. So basically what what it is doing is helping three people here. One is a new operator or a new, uh, you know, who is doing the patients for the first time. And it's very it's it's pretty apprehensive for that person if they are not done it. Uh, and, and, and being a dentist myself or any new, uh, assistant will feel that, you know, some bit of anxiety when they're doing the for the first few patients. Yes. That's true. So, so, so the the person is confident now because he's tested this whole process virtually enough number of times he has. He understood the process. He's rated A+ also in the test now. It's now once he does the real patient, he's so much confident. Understand the entire process end to end. Most of it is just confidence going into it. So that is one the confidence of the operator. Second, the patient experience goes higher. Yeah it's a indirect byproduct of it. Right. And the third thing the trainer or the head clinician will not be bothered now on on putting their efforts or their time. Yeah. And it's it was earlier taking away that patient share time. Yeah. For that trainer or the clinician. Now he's also like you know sorted. Got that time back. Exactly. So now the training is all automated and transformed into VR. You just put the headset on. It will guide you through it. So that's the whole thing. What we are doing and this is all geared towards clinical. Are you? Are you going to do any labs? Yes. That's what I'm excited about. Yes, you should be. Yeah I know, so lab is. I told you that is my first passion and first love. So although, you know, we started off with EOS, it is an interesting story. Why? We started off with iOS. Because while I was in Design Center, we used to get a lot of iOS scans from various doctors that were terrible. I will I will not ideal, you know, on the podcast. Not ideal is not ideal. Not ideal or many like huge percentage of that. And you know and so that's where I realized why. Because there are DSLRs which have the training engines. But why it's not converting into the, the the impact. Yeah. The why is there is no proper outcome of this. Yeah. So I figured out okay, this is the right good way to start. And then of course the there is no end any training which we can capture into a process. We can transform into VR. Yeah, that's what we are doing. This is so one of the you mentioned lab and one of the things I'm working on right now because, you know, and coming back to the lecture piece and, uh, easy dent, uh, dental lab, we are developing, uh, a kind of, uh, you know, finishing course where they do the finishing of the crown as well as dentures. One virtual reality. So the idea is, again, to make them make sure. Because when you put in. Right. Um, I would say the energy or the right process, once they start learning the stuff, then it becomes their muscle memory kind of stuff. And then when they do the actual finishing of the crown, they will follow the same process. I like that muscle memory because, you know, the point is, um, you know, we have this gold standard training and we put that on VR, make this new technician training simple manner. And then once you do the actual crown of finishing. It becomes you're not being trained by the disgruntled technician that doesn't want to do it right anymore. I mean, uh, has a bad day and. Yeah, exactly. So one, is that standardized? Yeah, exactly. That's what I was coming to. It's standardized. Yeah. When you standardize the training and put use the technology, then you are training every trainee the right manner. The same manner, what it should be. Yep. So that's my. And it's repetition too. You've got the repetition and you've got accuracy. Exactly. So do they get the the headset from you or can they use any headset. So um both ways. But I would say the easier way because sometimes we can always, uh, we have the course APKs or the apps and any headset we can install that, like if somebody is having already the headset or whatever. I don't know. We are using Meta Quest three. Okay. And it's lighter. I was when you tried it was Meta Quest two. It was a little bigger. Yeah. Uh, but now the Meta Quest three is there. It's lighter. It's easy to maneuver. The the hand wands are much more ergonomic or much lighter. Has that already. They can just contact you and get you. Yes we can. They can contact and we can do the app installation and all that stuff. Although I would not highly recommend it, are good ideal ways to get the headset from us where we pre-install everything. Oh, okay. Yeah. And then in future, for example, now, for example, somebody wants only the itero piece and but later on they figure out, okay, this is interesting. I want to incorporate the we already have sterilization app into end. So. So if they want sterilization piece or they want the lab component or whatever whatever. Yeah. So future. So if we have the app installed ourself and we deliver so we have the remote control you can add where we can add on everything. So they need to not to bother about the logistics and all that. So that's why the the ideal world in the ideal manner we go. And it doesn't involve too much of labor or technical expertise on the on the user side. Because when we are pre installing everything they just put the headset on. This is plug and play. It's very simple. Yep. I love it. I love it I want to try it. I think it's. I think it should become the new standard for training. Absolutely. I think it's really cool. And thank you for bringing it to the market. And it's so hard to train technicians. We just set them down and be like, watch me do it. Yep. Yeah. Well, why do you do it that way? That's just because that's the way I do it. So that's, uh. So that's. You're talking about lab. Imagine the clinical side. We are doing the testing on the patients. Yeah. You know, that's, uh, to me, because I'm a dentist at core. That to me. So that was one of the areas as well. Because now we are making training risk free also. Yeah. Yeah. You know, when you that there is a virtual patient you scanned on a virtual patient, Bob. Right. Right. So. So there is no actual patient. You are trying it out, and then you are, you know, risk free. It's risky practice until you get. You know how many times I've been in an office giving these assistants a scanner for the first time on a patient? I'm like, good luck. Yeah, that's exactly so well done. That's why I wanted to avoid. Yeah, that's the piece I wanted to. I'd love to say where. This headset. Yeah. Practice it for a couple of days, then we'll imagine. Uh, so all the regular courses are fine, but imagine somebody takes a hands on course for like a like how to. Yeah. Put the implant or anything, which is. Yeah. Can we call it as confidence builders. Yeah. And uh, like a dentist or a senior dentist. Not talking about new dentist. Now a senior dentist doesn't do that particular process every now and then. But once he takes the training and there is a three months down the line, he has taken the hands on course. Now, three months down the line, there is a patient now? Yes. The patient is scheduled. Yeah. Sometimes, uh, you know, you you don't, like, recollect every part of the training. But now if you have the VR headset a night before, you can just practice and play. It's like as if, like you play a game. Yeah. You can. Exactly. Tomorrow there is a patient. Yeah. And you? The. I'm going to refresh myself right now and I'm going to go in there. I'm going to nail five implants over a weekend six months ago in a pig's jawbone. They're ready. Yep. Exactly. Yeah. So that's what I'm trying to do here. I love it. What's the website again? Uh, it's DG dental.com. Com and, uh, I love it. And, um, you know, um. Yeah. I would love to, uh, you know, we we are expanding. Uh, we are expanding many processes. Yeah. The way we are working is creating our own generic libraries. And we are reaching out to many universities right now. Yeah. I bet, uh, so that's where. So that's where it all should start. Uh, you know, and, and also working on, uh, with some of the product companies now they are coming to us and telling us to kind of automate their trainings into VR so that their product adoption goes faster. Yeah, I love it. Well, if I know you guys, you're going to fly. So thank you so much for sitting down with us, waiting on us. And good luck with the meeting and good luck with everything. You know how much I respect you. Thank you. Good job for me. Yeah. Shout out to Army. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you. Appreciate it. Great. Thank you so much. You don't even have a name tag. Who are you spect, right. Yes, I remember spect. That's all I remember Tobias. He needs. He needs help with the names. Trust me, I can't find it. Oh, he's got a professional name tag, Tobias Specht. Yes. Nice. We've had you on before. Where did we talk to you? Uh, in Chicago. Chicago, right? Yeah. That's right, that's right. Years ago. Yep. Yeah. What's been going on a lot? Yeah. Max. Yeah. So we're we're joined by you. So you're from here, right? Yeah. From Europe, from Europe, from Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein at the headquarters. Yeah. From the. How do I put. Son. Yeah. There's the magnet. I don't. Okay. Don't hurt yourself, bro. Sorry. It's an IPS. Imax 20 years. Yes. So we're celebrating that. IEDs? Yeah. IEDs. We're actually at the exo cad booth, but I have a clerk, a good friend of ours. Yes. Yes. Sent over, Mr. Spec. Am I saying that right? Yeah, that's a fine. Okay. That's fine. To talk. Talk to us. About what? What type of car doing here? You guys do booths? We have. This year we have two booths. We have the main booths at 11 three where we have showing all our our workflows. Direct restorative stress, prosthetic, fixed prosthetics, removable prosthetics. Yeah. And then we have a satellite booth for prevention and care. Okay. I was curious because I saw the satellite booth. This is what happened, Barb. Kind of. Barb and I left yesterday. We're like, we got to stop by and see our friends. And we went to Ted, and we went there and we were like, I can't make any sense. This is weird. I don't know. I hope they're all right. It's a 20 year. And then somebody said, oh, no, there's another boy. It's in the app and the app. It comes first place 10.1 booths. And this is fully dedicated to prevention and care at this time. That's really genius. Prevention and care gets more and more important these days especially oral health systemic health. That's why we. We said we need to focus. Special boost. Yeah. Is this your first year? You've had two booths? Yes. First time, first time ever. So. But as a lab, we don't like prevention. We want people to need crowns and dentures. That's how we stay in business. So if you don't mind, if you could just slide that under, that's fine. What else are you guys launching? Anything this year. Talk to us about what's exciting. Um, yeah. We have a couple of new products, labs side also. Um, first of all, we we launched, um, I motion based print. Yes. So you hear nothing but good things about evolution? I'm just saying. Right. So we have, you know, we are in ten years in digital dentures. Yeah. Already starting with the devotion and then with devotion. Since five years, you have the, uh, the two colored pack, right? Yep. With the shell geometry. And now we are moving into printing. We have the base material. So talk about is a high impact. It's, it's a, it's a, it's not a high impact but it is. It performs like like a milled. It. Really? Yeah. It has the same shades. It feels like PMMa. Wow. It, it. And especially you can underline it with regular PMMa. Oh, so you can, like, realign? Yes. This is one of the key benefits. You know, you. I've never heard that before. Yes. So you would realign it traditionally? Yeah. If you need your impression, make your model out of it. Press it. Take your regular PMMa like you do it today. Yeah. And this is one of the interesting stuff because, you know, this happens and you don't have to print it again then. So you just realign like you're launching that here. Yeah. It was launched in the US earlier. I bet it was super popular already. And he has now launched and it is available for for our own printer, for Asia printers. And as we have the cooperation with sprint also for sprint. Oh, nice. Yeah. Wow. What about repairing? Can you do you repair them with PMMa? Yes. Yes. That's fascinating. Yeah. Regular powder. Liquid like you're like everybody's used to. Right. Since. You use the same powder liquid PMMa denture base material and it bonds to the printed one. Interesting. Perfectly. What about soft liners? That's a big problem with digital dentures. Now is soft liners won't stick to them. Yeah, but if the regular PMMa sticks, then it should. Soft lines should stick. That's cool. Should stick as well, right? Yeah. Very neat. So what are you doing for your anniversary? I know you guys held big parties in Chicago, and this is quite the size, so I'm knowing you have something planned. Oh, and on the fixed side, you know, we have 20 years of Imax celebrating. You know, we have exactly 20 years ago, we presented it the first time he had the idea. Yeah. First time. Were you there for that? Yeah. What kind of party was that? It was a that was a game changer. Yeah, it was a game changer when we launched it. And we developed it further. The last, you know, it was going to be so big. We I mean, you had to have some idea. Yeah. We had. Empress was super big. Empress was already big. Yeah. We know that it is bigger from what the system can do. Yeah, but it will be that big. It was kind of a little bit surprising, but we we we we know the potential of the product, you know. So. And then we developed it further. The 20 years we are doing all indications from thin veneers to multi-unit bridges out of all ceramics. That's why we call it all ceramic. All you need because you don't need anything else in the mix. And this year we have we have it on the booth 20 years and we are celebrating. We have today we have a second home at the Ides that the writer Russell. Uh, where we have, uh, eMac summit today, this afternoon. So when you say summit, what are you doing? Lectures. Uh, lectures, podium discussions on 20 years. We showed a clinical proof of it. And tomorrow we focusing on the left side. Uh, we have two more super speakers there. We have all the rubrics there. We have Maria element. They're showing the scientific stuff. Wow. Uh, we have Dominik Vinci there. And we have live patients there wearing iMacs for 15 to 20 years. That's a great. So you brought people in that have had Emacs in their mouth for 15 to 20 years, and they're going to hang out here at the show. And you have them at the at the summit tomorrow. That is really smart. Whose idea was that? That was genius. I want to know what patient got that call and been like, you want me to? What do you want me to show off my beautiful smile? I'll do it. Heck, yeah. That'd be. Would be great. Sessions today and tomorrow. Yeah. And then we have our no known evening events at the Event Horizon. Yeah. So you you have an event outside this event so that you can handle it is kind of loud when you're trying to do lectures and you're trying to talk. Yes. We have to run to us. And it's close by to the exhibition area, uh, where we host a press conference. We had a press conference on Monday, and we'll be doing all the side events and a little more control. Yeah. And the evening event. So we have tonight we have, uh, 800 people. 2000 people, 800 to 1000 people. I think we're coming. So. Yeah. Yeah. At a restaurant? Yeah. It's a big body restaurant. So they don't do anything small. And apparently now we know that. Or Germany? Yeah. Family and friends, like, you know. Coming. Coming together. Elvis and I will be there. Yeah, absolutely. And and, uh, what we have new is we for the labs. You know, we have the famous M7 milling machines. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I've got two, I love them. So you will like that. So first one is we have a new program mill Cam software release is out. So where we made 20% faster. So new software, same mills, same mill does things faster. Exactly. 20%. Wow. And then we also showing high performance on developed Cam software which mills especially Emax CAD 45% faster. How do I get Ahold of that? Yeah. So you can test I. And in summer, we will be launching. Right? Yeah we will. We are presenting. We will test with customers and then summer we will release it. Maybe I'm an idiot, but how did you just make it go faster? Well, it's the tool paths and things, right? The tool paths just are the whole strategy. How? How the spindle and the tools are moving. Right. And some break one and some good software. Software people. Right. Yeah, 45%. That's fast. That's significant. Like, if I have to run a case through. Yes. And a rush. Yes. Especially, you know, also time is of the essence. You have to you have to be matrix. You know, you save. Not a lot of time. What used to be in Emacs. 13 minutes to mill 40, 40. Yeah. Depending on 40 to 40 between, you know, size. Yeah, yeah. 40, 40 million overnight. You just love everything and it's okay. But now we are on a case. Small inlays are below 20 minutes, 20 minutes and crowns will be between 20 and 25. So yeah, that's awesome, I love it. Wow. Because, you know, labs are always trying to do more and more and more and more and more. And that gives us another option. So is that an upgrade that people purchase or is it part of it or. No, it's a it's a this is a separate version. Oh okay. So where the customers can buy they can test and we will find a way. Nice. And why would you not want to do that. Right. And what we also have kind of new we did it already a long time. We call it print and press. You know because press is still famous right. Precision is great. It presses very thin. We talked to Jim Thacker about that today. So they're pressing their is off and so very successfully. So and now you know more digital files coming into the labs. They want to go digital designing. Yeah. And we have a special wax material which works on our printers on the second uh Pro tool. Um, so they printed design also thin. And then you go just for the pressing because, you know, you get six, eight veneers into a, into a ring. And this is so cost efficient and precision, you know, pressing is unbeatable, right. You're right. And I hear that a lot. I mean, if you can fill up eight and put a cup in here, you're done. So yeah. And especially you know, because we had the execute boost execute is presenting the execute art the advanced restorative treatment you know auto restorative where you know you align the teeth first and then you do the veneers. So there will be a thinner and thinner because you will not have to prep because they are already in the right position. And this I think, is one of the best combination with smart software and a great product with Emacs. So does I have to work with XO CAD on these kind of things? Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, I was going to ask that, I liked that, that's a compliment. And we're sitting in the XO cad booth of course. So you guys have synergies there to get it there because I think, you know in this workflow he makes listen by silicate is the the the best choice you can you can treat patients right. Are you still selling a lot of ingots. Yeah yeah yeah yeah a lot of people still pressing huh. Isn't that does that fascinate you that it's still like we know we're milling a lot, but that still there's such a high demand press? Yeah. Because, you know, the I think, you know, there are several things milling for sure. It's more it's very efficient. But if you have delicate restorations, thin margins, milling is tricky, especially when you make less ceramics and pressing, you know, it just works. You know, you can you can press very thin. Aesthetics are amazing. So wow, do you guys have a big clinical like doctors at this meeting as well that stopped by your booth or is it more. So it's a little bit of a technician and clinical. We have both. We have you know, we have a big clinical business. We also have some new products there and the labs and stuff. Yeah. It's immense. Um, we have a new, very nice direct, restorative material for direct filling and composites. Very unique. And every filling can be the same. We have various aesthetic entities. So that works is proven with Emacs. So we want people to get bonded. So did you really? Yeah. Yeah. I'm still there. I'm still there. So how do you find your way around this place? You've been coming here. You probably. This is the second home to you. What did you say? How many times have you been here? Oh, I don't know, 25 times. 20 said you were at the launch of Vmax. So that's 20. Yeah. So I don't know how you been to it? Yeah, yeah. Oh, it's a big it's a big exhibition. Yeah. Is this show getting better every year? Do you think it's hit its peak or. Yeah. That's that will be one of the big questions for this year. You know we had a peak prior to Covid. Sure, sure. Somebody else had mentioned that. Yeah. But, um, now I think everybody will be very interesting to see the the numbers, the visitor numbers, if it's going up or will be same like the last time in 23. So this will be one of the. Well, Elvis and I talked about it a lot. I mean there's this is no. Companies are spending a lot of budget money to come to this show. Yes. And you always want to have a return on investment. So it makes a lot of sense. I mean, like we're sitting here, these these platforms, these setups, there's there's it's amazing right. I said 100 grand. He laughed at me. He's like, oh it's more like 500 grand. It's like a half a million. Yeah. Yeah. They brought the floor. Yeah. Pretty fantastic. So what's I'm working on? Anything you can spill the beans on? Yeah. You know, we have. We have, like, always, you know, we we have for two years ago, we had 100 years of innovation. Right? Center of innovation. We celebrated 100 years. We will continue to do so. Right. So we you guys are having a lot of anniversaries. Yes. We have. That's a cause for celebration. Yeah. Um, so and we will continue to innovate, that's for sure. This is the DNA, right? Printed iMacs. Well you're in. Where'd you say Stein? Yes. Isn't that like the home base? Yes, that's the home base. There's the headquarters, R&D. Everything happens there. So you've got pretty much. You're you're in the sweet spot. Oh, printing, printing iMacs. Everybody's asking. Yeah. Let's see how the what the future will be. The one that brought it up first. And I ask every other person I see. Let's see. But yeah, you know, there are tons of, uh, areas to innovate. So Konya is one, one topic to be innovated. Also, you know, veneering, ceramics, characterization, materials getting more and more important, you know, especially when restorations get thinner. Yeah. You have to to look how you manage the aesthetic. Yeah. You don't want to layer a point too. That's for sure. Right. So you have to rethink how how this should be done in the future. Because why don't you want to layer a point to crack holes? Thin. Weak? Yes. Anything to add? Just put it on an oven. Right. It's just. It's just. Yeah. So there we have to rethink how we do those things, especially in auto restorative workflows where you have less space. Right. But aesthetic outcome needs to be perfect. So there is something to innovate. And then the future will be will be good. Yeah. Oh, man. Yeah. Your zirconia is amazing, too. That's got to be huge for you guys. Yeah. Prime and prime aesthetic. I think these are the leading tokens today when it comes to strengths combining with aesthetics. So I like to see pictures of that zirconia in the mouth because you can see a distinct difference. Yeah, there's a big difference. It does not look like zirconia. And we have you know, we have a special gradient technology how we call it. This is the magic in the disc. And this makes the difference, right. Because, you know, there are tons of zirconia in the market. You see when you walk around here. Oh, there's a lot. Yeah. They're not the same. Right. That's why I like to see the clinical pictures. Because you can you can. Yeah. Right away. Exactly. I know who's that is. You can spot their zirconia in the mouth. You think? Wow, that says a lot. Yeah. That's a significant thing. Yeah. You can. That's that's proven. Yeah. Yeah. So you mentioned the PM seven. Is there going to be a PM eight? Um, that's a good question. Probably not. Maybe just a PMA, but you know, because I think the machine. It it does everything it does. Zero complaints. I think I've never used it. So it's a it's a rocking horse. It's a high performance machine. So wide change for sure. There are things you can make better. You know, but you guys aren't really a mill company. I mean, do you consider yourself a milling company? No. You're more of a materials and art. And we are materials company. But what we what we always did is we control the process. You know, when you think about all the time we had pressing the the furnace investment, the ingots, the mill, the software. So this is this is the focus. But we want to control the best quality outcome by the end. That's why we are in the milling. But we are materials company. And we are known for that, right? So something that a lot of people talked about in Chicago a couple of weeks ago was you've opened up a mailing center for people that have your meals. Yes, we have that. If it goes down or anything, you now have somewhere to go. Is that before Laurie? Didn't you have that before? We had it in a similar setup, but now it's kind of re reorganized in Chicago, so. Yeah. So it's only in the US or is that here? No, it's in the US. It's here. It's also in other locations. Oh nice. Because I think, you know I think that's huge. As a lab today you need to produce and you know on the machine they kind of always happen something. You know, it's not like an easy equipment. There's a lot of moving parts, you know. And that's why we said, okay, we need to service the customers. If there's something happening, they just send the cases to us. We mill it until the machine is ready. Or if you have too much work to be done in the lab, it's also happening, you know, then you can just send it to us. That's a huge customer service. I was thinking that customer service all the way. This is customer service and just to support the labs to produce more. That's the yeah, that's the. But someone that doesn't have one of those meals can't send to you know, that I think it's cool to I think it's means a lot. You're supporting the people that support you. That's the nature of nice. Yeah. Wow. Look at you. That's a good quote. And you're right for sure. No, we have to support the customer. Right? Yeah. You probably go to a lot of shows around the world. Yeah, yeah, yeah we do. This is the biggest one. This is for sure the biggest one. What's the next big. Oh well, you know what you want him to say Dubai. I want to go to Dubai. Someone told me about a show in Dubai, and I'm fascinated by it. You can go to Dubai because. Why is this off the benches everywhere. That's what I'm hoping. If anyone's listening. Have you ever been. I've. No, not. Not a long time ago. I've been in Dubai. Yeah. Um, Dubai is getting bigger, you know, also in China. China's got some, some some big ones. You're also in Latin America, Brazil. They have big ones. Oh, now I want to go to Brazil. But this. But this is for sure the biggest one. When it comes to participants and also exhibitor exhibitors. Right. Is that because it's the longest, the most popular? I mean, it's a heck of a long way for Americans to go to Germany to go to this size meeting. What do you think the secret sauce is? I think a lot of, you know, kind of dental technology started in, in the, in Europe and also in Germany. Right? Okay. And you know, the interesting is the IDs had also 100 years ago in 23. Yeah. It's that old. Wow. Yeah. They had they didn't realize that hundred years was even at their first one. Oh I don't know. They probably missed it by like one. Yeah. Maybe that's why you know this is kind of he he started everything. That's why it's so kind of big. Right. And makes sense. Someone's got a picture the very first. I have a booth at the very first IDs. And that would be epic to look at I need to. Take the history pictures. Some little table, just like three people. You know, it's all small. We're here. Yeah. If they had cameras back then, 100 years, they had cameras. That's a blind moment. Okay. So let's see how this idea goes. So, yeah, good luck to you guys. And we appreciate all your support. And thanks for making the trek over here. Probably took you six hours to walk over here. Yeah. And now we will stop by your other big booth. Please come say. 11. 11. Three. 11. Come up. Got it. Have a look at the booth, and then. Yeah, we can make sure you come to a voice. To to to Dubai. One. Dubai? Yes. We have an advocate. Well, thank you so much, Tobias. Thank you for inviting. I have a car. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Have a great day. A huge thanks to Doctor Sabra and Tobias for coming by and talking to Elvis and I at the exit card booth at the I.D.s 2025. I genuinely have enjoyed working with Doctor Sheba in the past, and respect the heck out of him and what he built in India with Harmeet Bindra. And after using the VR headset a bit, I really do see the benefit, how it can help train the new generation not only of dentists but of dentists and technicians. So. Head over to DG dental.com to learn more. And of course, we are always thankful for the support from our friends that I have and appreciate all that Tobias and his team are doing to stay on the cutting edge of kind of basically everything. So it's looking like I have a car and all their advances will continue to lead the way to a better dentistry. Yay, guys. Great job. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you everybody. All right. That's all we got for you. And of course we will talk to you this week. Have a great show. Bye. Now. Bart, you. Sorry. Go ahead. I was actually there at IDs, I know. Go ahead. Sorry. What are the views and opinions expressed on the voices from the Bench podcast are those of the guests, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the host or voices from the bench. LLC.