It may seem unexpected for breakthroughs in CT scanning technology to come from a dental laboratory. But foresight is exactly what California-based Glidewell dental lab is known for. In a manufacturing field that requires as much volume as it does precision, the dental lab has developed scanners that strike the right balance of affordability, speed, size and precision, allowing them to scale up at any time as the market demands without taking on financial risk. But why would a dental lab need computed tomography to optimize their production? At the beginning of the Industry 4.0 Revolution, Glidewell, the largest privately-owned dental laboratory in the U.S., initiated a unique workflow in which every case order submitted by dentists gets digitized via CT scanner and then perfected in a virtual environment. This proprietary system allows the production floor to churn out accurate dental products with fewer errors at a faster rate while applying AI-powered design software for greater precision and esthetics. However, they ran into a crucial problem: Finding a commercial CT scanner that could keep up with their high-volume workload. Glidewell’s digital workflow necessitated modern technology in a field dominated by an artisan-like workforce of technicians and designers. Their initial exploration in digital scanning started with optical scanners. But the optical scanners could not capture the finer details present in dental impressions, nor could they reliably capture the angles and curves of natural dentition. This made it difficult to consistently fabricate accurate products that were fit for consumer acceptance. Glidewell then tested multiple commercial scanners in order to find one that could meet their needs. But their experience with conventional industry scanners was one in the same: Breakdown after breakdown due to the constant cycling, expensive technology that stretched out their budget, and little room to scale up with the growing pace of the industry. “The vast majority of available scanners were intended for university and research institutes, not use in a manufacturing environment,” said Glidewell Senior Vice President of Engineering, David Leeson. “Because of this, in addition to the available machinery being expensive to procure, it was also expensive to operate.”
