How to Build Your Ideal Hybrid Dental Workflow | Alex Jakson | EODP #37

00:00:00:07 - 00:00:22:26 Alex We only sell what we use daily in our lab, and we're currently producing close to a thousand restorations a day. It's all labeled on every one of our pages on what we're needing in order to get the case done. So there's no question of what what is what's going to put a case on hold or whatnot. We were fed up with the, you know, cost analysis of it, and we're bringing that cost analysis to our customers. 00:00:22:26 - 00:00:43:31 Alex You're never going to learn anything by not getting your hands like into the work and doing it yourself. In the beginning, I think most people has it and didn't think that that was a good business model, and I think we proved them wrong at this point. 00:00:43:36 - 00:01:02:02 Rob Welcome back to the Evolution of Dental Podcast. Brought to you by Evolution Dental Science, where we share the stories of the people and the technology shaping the world of dentistry. And today's guest is this is a little bit closer to home than normal. This is a special episode. Today's guest, we call them the Secret Jackson. Everybody knows about Andy. 00:01:02:04 - 00:01:16:40 Rob Everybody knows about Josh. But working behind the scenes and building all this technology out so that it can come and be presented to you. Like right now, heading projects like this podcast itself is my favorite. Alex Jackson, welcome to the show. Alex, how are you? 00:01:16:48 - 00:01:25:07 Alex I'm really good. Rob I'm excited to join the podcast and, you know, talk to you guys about what we do here at Evolution Dental Science. 00:01:25:12 - 00:01:47:24 Rob I'm so excited to show people what you've been working on, because if they haven't seen our website lately, what you've done with this website, incredible. And obviously we all work together. But I mean, just I think objectively, this is a really cool website. Just some of the features that are there, like being able to see scans in 3D and have active chats between doctors and the lab technicians about the cases. 00:01:47:28 - 00:02:02:48 Rob One place to collate all the files. We not only have our stuff online, but we have prices with the stuff that we have online, which nobody does. So but before we get into all that, you didn't start off in dentistry. Actually, for a family that has a vintage lab. 00:02:02:52 - 00:02:28:45 Alex Well, it's been a long time coming. I used to be very skilled soccer player, and I at one point I had to decide between D1 ball and working with my family, but at the exact same time that I was going and got to go off to college, we decided to start selling XO CAD, and that's when I knew truly that I had to prioritize family business and focus on launching evolve with my brother Josh. 00:02:28:45 - 00:02:52:31 Alex And that's really what decided the course of the next 12 years of my life, and where I am today, was being able to have the opportunity to be the first distributor of XO Cat. I thought it was really cool at the time to be able to sell 3D printers and sell the future, but now it's the present. And as we all know, Axel Cat is what I call the glue of digital dentistry. 00:02:52:33 - 00:03:17:31 Alex Nothing can be produced without a design. And so it really all started with for me, it really all started with so can and evolve and evolve has been truly like my baby ever since I joined the business. It started as a dental lab. I worked at my dad's dental lab. That's really where evolve kind of, you know, took wheels in motion because up until then, no one really knew how to design an Excel can. 00:03:17:33 - 00:03:42:24 Alex We had to teach everybody on our own in Buffalo, creating systems for people to sign up with, trainings with Josh and Johnny and Johnny Auf Anita's, and a bunch of other great designers along the way, including yourself. Today you could schedule a training with Robert himself, not just being a reseller, but being a solutions provider. We've trained over 3000 designers remotely. 00:03:42:24 - 00:04:02:45 Alex It's been a really rewarding last 12 years. We do courses around the world. We have cols and influencers that help us, you know, promote our company. And it is it's it's grown into its own thing at this point beyond what I ever thought it would be. So it's really cool to see it blow up. 00:04:02:50 - 00:04:28:16 Rob It's it's been rewarding working with with evolve. And it's funny because we got into CAD, you and I evolve in my own career prior to working with evolution within months of each other. And then also the reason that we got connected in the first place was Mark Rosenberg introduced me to Andy over a three way phone call and then dipped out, which was, if you know Mark, that's Mark. 00:04:28:19 - 00:04:58:31 Rob And one of the things that really brought and the unit together with that first initial conversation was that we were doing something similar, running in parallel. Yeah, evolved at a much bigger scale. But what we were doing, I think makes it unique is that we're not only resellers of this software, in this equipment and all this technology, but we actively use this technology in the laboratory to produce hundreds of crowns and restorations and full arch and implants every single day. 00:04:58:33 - 00:05:02:16 Rob Like, we are not selling things that we don't personally believe in and use. 00:05:02:19 - 00:05:29:00 Alex Yeah, that is exactly the our motto is we only sell what we use daily in our lab, and we're currently producing close to a thousand restorations a day, thanks to our great partners and our great friendships that we've developed. But yeah, you hit the nail on the head. It is only about having the expertise of the technicians that work at Evolution Dental Science, and then empowering our customer base with the know how to do it on their own. 00:05:29:00 - 00:05:55:04 Alex And there's a lot of resellers and there's a lot of companies out there, but very few of them bridge the gap between the technical skills and the sales and do it in a way that I think we're doing. It's more about the solution and making the restorations and teaching, teaching others how to do it. There was always this fear, you know, this is not a fear, but this this idea that evolved inherently was teaching others how to make the teeth on their own. 00:05:55:04 - 00:06:20:57 Alex Why would a lab want to teach others how to make their own teeth? Isn't that going to ruin your business? And I think that we have proven that you can teach one person how to make denture on their own. But then the word spreads about the ability for us to empower others and become a thought leader in digital dentistry and, you know, create a podium that we can stand on that says, hey, we taught this person how to do it. 00:06:20:57 - 00:06:46:14 Alex They're making amazing work happen online. Where did you learn how to do it? Oh, evolved on the street. And so the word of mouth really happens with every person that we bring on. That goes the full gamut, that does all the work in house for those. Those end up being our greatest sales. Our clients end up being our greatest sales arm because it's the that one person that we trained ends up bringing in more lab work. 00:06:46:14 - 00:06:56:26 Alex And so it all kind of it comes full circle. But yeah, it's it's a in the beginning I think most people has attained and didn't think that that was a good business model. And I think we proved them wrong at this point. 00:06:56:28 - 00:07:20:02 Rob With the democratization of all this information through AI, through just the internet in general, through the younger generations and learning the CAD, Cam technologies, it's become like, well, the information is out there now, so why not grow together? I mean, we have a shrinking pool of dental technicians. Even though we add more all the time, we still have a shrinking pool of dental technicians in the country and a growing demand. 00:07:20:09 - 00:07:48:16 Alex A lot of our clients are now teachers, without naming them. The people that teach today at one point have came and learned at the through evolve. And I think that that's a testament to our ability to multiply and grow. So CAD as a powerful brand. And we always thought that like we're trying to preach the gospel of exochus, and it was just about creating disciples. 00:07:48:21 - 00:08:06:36 Alex Exo God, we have a saying here that we bleed purple, and that is that's only shown by, you know, our commitment to our customers. We actually won the Customer Excellence Award by CAD for being a hero of digital dentistry this year. And, you know, that's a really great honor because, you know, it's the first time they're giving awards out. 00:08:06:36 - 00:08:27:50 Alex And we got the award for helping the most amount of people. And I think that that is overall the most rewarding part of this journey. You know, you can sell dongles, you can you can be the top revenue person. But for us it's about helping others. And we, we, we bleed purple because we truly believe in exo CAD being the best software and in dentistry. 00:08:27:50 - 00:08:50:28 Rob So teaching, teaching digital dentistry in general is it's been such a fun journey for me personally. And I mean, I when I tell people I have my dream job, most people, especially people aren't outside of dentistry, look at me weird because it's like, what? That really? Yeah, absolutely. I take so much joy from from being able to share these experiences with other dental professionals. 00:08:50:28 - 00:09:20:43 Rob If you're looking for greater control and flexibility within your digital design workflow, schedule a meeting with me or send us a direct message I'll personally walk you through. XO CAD help you understand the available options. Determine the right configuration for your lab or your practice. Now back to the show and also the way that we have created yet another thing I say we really mostly down to you, like pulling together all these ideas and putting them on the web and making them so much more sensible than ever before. 00:09:20:48 - 00:09:48:24 Alex It's been. If anyone has been on our previous sites, they'd know that we it was a growing evolution of the previous site, and for us, evolve was always seen as the XO, CAD reseller and education arm of our laboratory, and it has grown to be what I call the hybrid supply chain lab of digital dentistry. So there's there's milling center, there's design center, there's 3D printing center all on our website now. 00:09:48:28 - 00:10:20:38 Alex And depending on who you are, you could go full service where you just have the scan and send us a scan. We'll do the rest. But most of these people that work with evolve are the ones that are either getting a 3D printer or a mill in office, and we're doing the designs for those appliances, and then they're manufacturing on site, or they're a designer that doesn't have access to, you know, $100,000 metal 3D printer, for example, or, you know, they don't have capacity to Mil and iPhone or, you know, these harder things that take up that bottleneck. 00:10:20:38 - 00:11:09:02 Alex Smaller labs, design services, the printing services, and then also installing and building out the brains and the physical space within offices and other laboratories to manufacture on their own. And we provide things like design credits when you buy printers and mailing credits when you buy Excel CAD. So there's there's nested qualities that bring us all together. And as as we've gone digital, we've seen the need for expanding our services beyond just selling stuff and into, you know, for example, you know, full arch prototyping for same day surgery back in 2015, we were we were asked, you know, how can I get this a design as quick as I can for so I could do this 00:11:09:02 - 00:11:35:26 Alex full arch treatment. And that's when we started, you know, we were a pioneer in this scheduled chair side designers. So the minute that your patients in the chair getting the attractions and placing the implants, we're already on your big screen in your operatory, ready to design. And so our turnaround times have always been somewhere around 40 to 30 minutes for these designs in office, you know, designed by humans and and expertly crafted restorations. 00:11:35:26 - 00:11:50:52 Alex And so we're helping full arch clinics all across the world do this type of same day surgery that they would have to be paying. You know, it's very difficult to have a full arch designer on staff. It's an expensive skill. 00:11:50:57 - 00:12:13:26 Rob And I want to interrupt you, but like to take a step backward because some people maybe not as familiar with the full arch workflow that is becoming more and more standardized for these larger clinics that are placing, you know, several arches worth of implants a day, what does that look like? What does that look like for for somebody who's curious about getting into this, or maybe thinking about buying a printer and incorporating this into their practice? 00:12:13:36 - 00:12:38:50 Alex Well, you would have to begin by getting some form of mentorship, learning how to place implants first, right? A lot of people have aspirations of placing implants. There's a lot of great, credible people out there. We're partners with the Worli Implant Immersion Center down in Mexico, where you can place up to 600 implants in a six day period and watch and watch live surgeries happen. 00:12:38:55 - 00:13:00:28 Alex Doctor Worley is an amazing teacher and implants, but it comes down to scheduling us. When you get a, you know, you have a patient that wants to get a full arch restoration, you schedule the surgery date and you see a designer, and then you go ahead and you place, you want to place your implants and we help you do that. 00:13:00:28 - 00:13:21:09 Alex Preliminarily, we could do guides before or you can do you know, you know, if it's easy enough you could place it on your own freehand. And we're using we're using markers. You know, we have the easy raff that we invented, which is a horizontal scan flag system that allows for you to pick up in the implant location between sites. 00:13:21:09 - 00:13:47:33 Alex And it's a great tool that we launched in 2022. And ever since then, the horizontal scan flag market has really bloomed into something that we never expected. Photogrammetry is another great option. So you can use the eye cam or the Micron Mapper or the temple. There's a lot of great options. True has a great option through the iPhone, but there's different ways of picking up the implant location. 00:13:47:33 - 00:13:55:50 Alex And so we need to get that implant location. And then we're mirroring a wax up to the implant sites. And that's all happening real time. And that's. 00:13:55:50 - 00:13:58:09 Rob A digital up right that we're talking about. 00:13:58:12 - 00:14:14:14 Alex Yeah. Digital wax up. Correct. And that's a really important step because if you're not placing the teeth location with the pre scan, you're really missing out on a lot of the data that's required in order to get the correct and other things in the spinal position. So I. 00:14:14:14 - 00:14:46:03 Rob Think the digital wax on my favorite aspects of this frankly, where you have the patient in for their initial consultation and you take take good photos, everyone take good photos. Always take good photos. We've got a litany of episodes that I'm sure Catherine can put up here. Take good photos, take a scan. Right. You take an initial scan of their existing dentition, and then either our designers or your own in-house designers, or your favorite CAD guy on the internet can can create a digital proposition before you ever extract the first tooth. 00:14:46:04 - 00:15:11:21 Rob And that's one of my favorite aspects of it is like before, before you even begin the process, you can already have your truth set up in place so that when they are sitting chair side and you're praising those implants, you can just take that information from, from like you said, from the easy rev scan, bring it directly in, match it up with the pre placed teeth that we've already come up with and then boom, it's ready to take to your to your printer. 00:15:11:24 - 00:15:23:45 Alex We're doing conversions in under an hour. And I think that was always a goal for us was try to you know accelerate that so that we could have the collaboration for that same day. Restoration. 00:15:23:48 - 00:15:25:26 Rob Nobody goes home without teeth. 00:15:25:28 - 00:15:51:24 Alex Yeah. And that really it goes beyond just full arch. I mean, immediate denture applications for same day schedule is a great application. But even if you want to get consultative interiors with, you know, having the patient and the doctor assessing the wax ups for veneer cases and things like that, it's also a great application for scheduled designers. No one really was doing it at the time. 00:15:51:27 - 00:15:56:09 Alex It's the capacity that we are and doing today. But. 00:15:56:14 - 00:15:57:09 Rob People still are. 00:15:57:19 - 00:16:29:09 Alex Inherently what happened in where the evolution continued was we had a printer prototype in the mouth and they wanted to go to final. And so now the the next step in the evolution of us is to allow for our, our clients on our website, after the wax hubs completed, to go to a final restoration. And then that's where our laboratory team comes into play and takes your wax ups and takes your provisional. 00:16:29:14 - 00:16:54:48 Alex Full arch restorations and brings them into Arkona, into ceramics, into the final material that really, you know, the patient goes home and has a life with. And now that all is in one place, you know, and with no other, no other company, you have the ability to get your design, you know, have it connect with your 3D printer and then come back to the same place and then get your final restoration. 00:16:54:50 - 00:17:19:19 Alex It's. And then not only that, selling the gear and teaching others how to use this stuff is what our forte was born out of. And so we want to be a place where people can embrace the and maximize digital dentistry in a way that we are helping them, handholding them through their progression. You know, you can't just go directly all into it and expect to have it all in-house from day one. 00:17:19:19 - 00:17:42:50 Alex And if your goal is to get in-house from day one, I highly suggest you working with a partner like us and learning and walking before you run. And and that's really what evolved does, is we help people get to a position where they're in confidence in digital dentistry and becoming, you know, pioneers that are taking the stage at conventions and teaching others how to be like them. 00:17:42:55 - 00:17:49:02 Rob So if a doctor was interested in, say, scheduling something like that, can you take us through on the website, like what that might look like? 00:17:49:04 - 00:18:10:52 Alex Sure. Well, I'm on the page right now. So through the site you go to Design Services and then scroll down. There's a bunch of different options that you can sign up for. But you know let's talk about full arch. So this is essentially the form that you fill out. What's really important is this chair side instant collaboration. It's only $75. 00:18:10:52 - 00:18:40:14 Alex And that reserves our technicians to come and work, you know, and you pick a time in a place and we'll be there. There's add on features that that you can have. We'll do some we'll do bike finders. So if you have, you know, preexisting dentition, we can use AI to, to mirror the occlusion to their preexisting dentition. It's great for TMJ and other related things that happen post-surgery for for full arch patients. 00:18:40:14 - 00:19:16:19 Alex Some patients complain about how their old teeth and their new teeth really don't function the same way. And, you know, bug finders of that solution. And so there's other solutions. We have a gingiva veneer is a great example of another cool piece. So a jinja veneer allows for you to print two pieces at once. So if you have for example, the dual arch kit from sprint right, you can have gingiva gum and you can have, you know, the all tough and then bind the the pink gingiva directly onto the white teeth in the full arch. 00:19:16:19 - 00:19:37:21 Alex So it's a really fast way doing post-processing chair side. I think one of the coolest features here is the automatic detection of scan type. So where you have data acquisition you're like what do I send? It's all labeled on every one of our pages on what we're needing in order to get the case done. So there's no question of what what is what's going to put a case on hold or whatnot. 00:19:37:24 - 00:20:16:09 Alex Right now we're charging 399 on arch. But yeah, I mean, there's there's even more things that I find to be really interesting, like our wax up selection tools, you know, allowing patients or doctors to pick the wax ups with the tooth chart, it automatically loads. It's a very clean cut system. We do ejection molding on wax up. So the techniques that are being taught at the highest level courses in the world, we are implementing and allowing you to get access to, you know, even things like the programmers and all the different types of splits, you know, that's a big category that exists is all of these different types of splints, sports cards, the new spray, 00:20:16:09 - 00:20:40:43 Alex sports card material things all require different types of designs in different specifications based on material thickness and what the goal is for the case. And so we have the team that is available to allow people to to do this same day stuff with lab grade results with because we're born out of a lab, we can give our clients access to the highest level designs. 00:20:40:43 - 00:20:59:33 Alex And I think that's another part that makes this whole thing work here, is that you don't have other partnerships where you are lab, you know, all these design services that are from manufacturers and whatnot are all third party and not in-house. And this is where we come in. And we we take consultative approaches with all of our customers. 00:20:59:33 - 00:21:23:55 Alex And I think one of the things that I'll point out is, you know, these are the four pillars that we see in digital dentistry. It's the, the these different supply chains that happen where we do the design and you manufacture where we'll do the or where you're designing, and then we will manufacture, you do it all on your own or we do it for you from scan like this is the future. 00:21:23:57 - 00:21:45:43 Alex There's only these ways you can make a tooth in a different capacity, and we facilitate each one of these depending on your unique goals as a customer. So it's built around you and your workflow doesn't have to be all or nothing. It could be somewhere in between as you're going from crawling to walking to running. And the progression exists in this way. 00:21:45:48 - 00:22:14:16 Alex You know, we are great at training people on exo CAD. And I would suggest for people if they're like in, you know, a dental clinic or if they're in, you know, a nice specialized kind of operation to dive into digital dentistry and have that specialty. That's your core competency and that's what you're producing the most. Do that first and then you'll every every clinic has an outlier denture case or an outlier wax up that it might be out of their core competency. 00:22:14:19 - 00:22:33:24 Alex Then send those casework to us. And you're running your design journey as you're learning your manufacturing techniques as well. So that's that's my suggestion to people. Just starting off is find your find the one thing that you want to bring in. And then and let us teach you exactly how to do it. 00:22:33:28 - 00:22:48:55 Rob Yeah. And that's one of the what's one of the things I always start with, with any of my consultations is like, oh, I want to get this. I want to get excited, I want to get a printer. It's like you always start with, what are you trying to make? And then we're accurate from there, because the answer may not be what you're what you're actually shopping for. 00:22:48:55 - 00:23:13:31 Rob And that's one of my favorite conversations to have. And speaking of it, sounds like from what you're saying, for those who are just looking to get in or seeking bringing some aspect of production in-house, the hybrid workflow seems like a great way to start. Like, what's the difference between buying a hybrid workflow type situation from evolve? Like, what does that look like and what the differentiating factor between us and another competitor. 00:23:13:36 - 00:23:44:16 Alex So we're offering I mean, we're offering design credits or manufacturing credits if depending on what you buy. So if you get a printer you're getting design credits because we're helping you hit ROI instantly. You know, that $1,000 in design credits is going to pay off your printer immediately. And we're also giving you the, like, confidence, because we're having those lab grade restorations getting onto your printer, and you're building a repertoire of, of of skills beyond just printing into post-processing and learning what a good design looks like. 00:23:44:16 - 00:24:06:43 Alex One of the biggest factors with hybrid supply chains is labor, and the cost of people is truly the most. One of the most expensive pieces of this, you know, does a three year cost under $10 for material costs, but paying somebody for an hour's worth of their time in order to make an upper and lower denture is actually 4 or 5 times more expensive than the material itself. 00:24:06:43 - 00:24:45:40 Alex And so in understanding what is worth your time and what's going to help you hit ROI internally is kind of where we exist, because not everybody is manufacturing enough of something in order to internalize it, and we enable everybody to manufacture anything on these 3D printers or these mills, depending on what your goals are. If you go down to the bottom here and you go to active promotions, all of these active promotions that you see here, you don't have to go asking a rep for the deal of the month, everything that is available in terms of promotional value from our manufacturing partners is already set as the MSP on our site. 00:24:45:40 - 00:25:03:24 Alex So when you're going to evolve, it's you're not needing to get the special deal or the special discount because we're already hitting industry low pricing on our ecommerce shop every single day, and it makes shopping a lot easier. And I think, oh, this is a great one to pivot really quickly. 00:25:03:38 - 00:25:05:55 Rob Not having to remember a promo code that's. 00:25:05:57 - 00:25:06:40 Alex Well, yeah, use. 00:25:06:40 - 00:25:07:34 Rob The very well. 00:25:07:38 - 00:25:30:48 Alex Yeah, exactly. I think that those are, those are meant for you to forget and then not purchase at the, at the discounted price. Right. And so for us, we believe that, you know, giving people the ability to access discounts as they're, as they're available. One thing that I think is really knew that we're doing here that's also setting evolve apart is try before you buy on resins. 00:25:30:48 - 00:25:57:33 Alex So we're piloting it with our partial frameworks and with our materials with grant and business laws. For people who haven't had the experience of residents of different materials to to see what it's like in practice before they commit to the 3D printer or before they commit to the buying the printer and internalizing these things. So I believe that everything, yeah, everything in digital dentistry starts with material science. 00:25:57:33 - 00:26:21:26 Alex And in the in the progress of material science directly correlates with the adoption rates of 3D printers and with this technology. And so for us, it's about getting them the material out and the ability for them to see what it's like with a patient and putting it in their mouth, gaining the confidence as a clinician to like, yeah, 3D printing is definitely here for these applications. 00:26:21:31 - 00:26:47:21 Alex Like all the naysayers can, can, can go out a window. And so it's cool. You got the ability right here to, you know, we can send you a generic sample for free. You can send us a final file and we will manufacture it for free as well. Or we can, you know, add a design for you and then you will just design it and then give you a free restoration, one one per office, per material. 00:26:47:26 - 00:27:11:07 Alex So the ability to work with you to be able to test and do your own research in a capacity that you would have to buy a full, you know, $400 bottle of resin and a $10,000 printer before you even try it. And so this enables people to get started right away with low cost, low barrier to entry. And this is another unique thing that no one else is doing right now. 00:27:11:12 - 00:27:30:19 Alex Go to the bottom of our website. Again, our footer is a very great place to go. And look if you're not on the footer of our website, but Active Promotions is where you'll find all of the discounts as well as you can go up here into bundles. See it there. But we have bundles too. So we have workflows designed for every single type of ecosystem that we were just speaking on. 00:27:30:19 - 00:27:53:14 Alex And the bundles are great. They allow you to know, say you already got a scanner, that's okay, but you need to get Excel, Cat and Midas, for example, you could get into a minus for under 18,000. That is that is like one tenth of what the old Cyrix were costing. And so you're getting you're getting the 75% of nail ceramic materials that are out by Midas. 00:27:53:14 - 00:28:05:33 Alex Now you're being able to design your own restorations in-house with the power of cat free design, free design training. It's it's the all it's it's it's a no brainer for anyone who wants to. 00:28:05:33 - 00:28:24:24 Rob Solve a package. And especially considering like the Midas is essentially like the modern Serik. I'm here with the sprint, right? If you've been hearing about digital 3D press printing and wondering how you could incorporate that into your lab or your practice schedule, appointment with me or send us a direct message. Now back to the show. 00:28:24:28 - 00:28:50:40 Alex There's a big difference between adoption and what we'll see with Midas and how it's going to change the adoption of chair side crowns. You know, I believe I genuinely believe that chairs or crowns at a laboratory is, is, is is soon to be a thing of the past, unless you're in a DSL environment and doing bulk discounts and all of that type of, you know, supply chain, value props. 00:28:50:40 - 00:29:27:48 Alex But for a general practitioner who's looking to add and maximize the value to the patient, there's really no reason why they shouldn't be making chair side crowns nowadays. And it goes beyond just crowns and into veneers and interior work. The difference is, is AI is pretty decent at posteriors, and where we're looking towards the evolution is the anterior wax ups and instead of positions still require an artist hand in concepts of facial symmetry that that go beyond a single variable AI algorithm and into multivariable AIS things. 00:29:27:48 - 00:29:51:04 Alex And so as time progresses, AI is going to definitely play a bigger role in exochus. AI is is the foundation of a lot of our chrome in bridge work these days, in posterior and ISO cards getting better and better every single version with new features and updating going from single unit to bridge and soon to be. You know, hopefully the interior wax ups is really where I'm looking. 00:29:51:07 - 00:30:15:28 Alex I'm so excited about it. So cats Future Journeys of AI is worth mentioning that everybody, every single month gets 30 credits of AI designed with index. So if you're looking at like one of those bundles that I was referring to, you're getting AI crowns from exo CAD, you're getting the Midas, you're getting the post-processing. It's all there for them to be making restorations for under 20,000. 00:30:15:31 - 00:30:19:02 Rob And you're getting our know how and teaching you how to use it to that. 00:30:19:12 - 00:30:20:07 Alex That's exactly correct. 00:30:20:07 - 00:30:37:16 Rob And if you're curious about it, there's a link in the bio. Send us a DM. Like you can schedule a consultation with me and I'll be happy to read you through it. But as I mentioned before, it's one of my favorite things to do is just talk digital dentistry and introduce people to this tech. Yeah, but speaking of bringing things in house, that's really exciting. 00:30:37:21 - 00:30:39:14 Rob Alex, what's a blue block? 00:30:39:19 - 00:31:05:28 Alex Oh, yeah. Okay. Well, so when so blue block is lithium silicate, it's comparable to Claire's product and all the other lithium silicate blocks out there. But around two years ago, we decided to disrupt the market and bring the cost down on with the silicate milled. And that lithium silicate has been a backbone of this, Eric. And a lot of the products that do chair side milling. 00:31:05:28 - 00:31:43:24 Alex But now we're looking at around $20 per lifting to silicate final block. And so that half. Yeah it is it is half. It's more than half of what the previous prices used to be. And so we're seeing a lot of adoption because it is a very comfortable or even, you know, it's a very comparable product. And people are making the switch to non what I would say legacy legacy brands and into these new brands like Blue Blocks, we did it for the industry launching it, taking on the inventory, keeping the quality of ensuring the quality. 00:31:43:24 - 00:32:05:31 Alex And we just were kind of thought up with the as a laboratory ourselves. We were fed up with the, you know, cost analysis of it, and we're bringing that cost analysis to our customers. And we also do the same with our Zarco, and that we sell and use here at our laboratory. We have very great pricing on our own, and all of the consumable materials that we use every single day as lab times. 00:32:05:33 - 00:32:34:43 Alex And it's a part of our procurement strategy. It's a part of our total supply chain of making sure that we're a top dog in being able to not just provide you with the the equipment or the education, but also the consumables and that you need. But yeah, it's not just about the supply. It's not just about the how and what you're doing, but it's also about those variable touchpoints that can really add up and ruin your chair side manufacturing experience. 00:32:34:48 - 00:32:51:00 Rob So one of the things I really like about the website also is the. Of course, obviously I'm very biased. Education is my wheelhouse. That's my favorite thing. I love to teach this stuff. Yeah, we have like a whole learn center now where you can price it out either like all the cart lessons or even you have we have package deals too. 00:32:51:02 - 00:33:14:00 Alex Right now. I could show that real quick. So yeah, this has been this this page has been historically the the birthplace of where evolve really came from is teaching Exo, like I said prior. But what I think is the best is the fact that we offer free training with anybody who purchased Exo card plus 50% off all trainings in thereafter. 00:33:14:00 - 00:33:38:40 Alex So we're not just giving you a little bait and switch on a single month, but we're discounting it and allowing for you $75 a session. These are with people like Robert and Josh and Johnny who are expert texts, and there's packages up to, you know, for training sessions a month all the way to the unlimited package, which you get a dedicated XL card coach and access to templates and libraries that we have. 00:33:38:40 - 00:34:05:04 Alex What I like doing, we've been doing is getting one person in these in our in either a different laboratory to become an expert and then be that disciple for the rest of that laboratory. And a lot of, I mean, countless, countless of these other dental labs that we're serving all started by learning on this page and getting somebody in their facility to learn from us here. 00:34:05:09 - 00:34:25:19 Alex What I like to say always is our best customers never talk to us again because they don't need us. And that's literally the opposite of probably. It's a terrible business model, but it's great because we get that word of mouth and we're that true. We're that true source that that people can actually believe and that we're going to take care of them to their end destination. 00:34:25:19 - 00:34:44:36 Alex Everyone's trying to part in peace and take something out of the experience in order to monetize it. I love saying that because it makes business sense, but it actually pays off in the long run because we create people who create word of mouth that get the next generation of of people interested in chair side manufacturing to come in one from us. 00:34:44:36 - 00:34:46:07 Alex So it's a self-fulfilling. 00:34:46:09 - 00:35:12:11 Rob Two really cool things that I really enjoy. There is one, I'm seeing more and more doctors signing their assistance up for the monthly package and booking four times a month with me, and getting their assistance onboarded to build a lot of the stuff in-house, whether it be splints or full access. Another thing I've seen a lot lately is we have several doctors that are booking with me, sometimes ten times a month for the unlimited month, and they all. 00:35:12:21 - 00:35:31:19 Rob My favorite thing about it is they always bringing me the most off the wall complicated, bizarre cases. And they kind of hybridize the work because they're it's not just it's not just a lesson plan. They also get a product at the end of it. So like they actually have something that they can produce in-house as a result of this coaching session too. 00:35:31:21 - 00:35:33:11 Rob So it's sort of a service thing. 00:35:33:14 - 00:35:34:00 Alex They really. 00:35:34:04 - 00:35:40:36 Rob Really maximize their, you know, their monthly investment by getting some design service out of it as well as learning something along the way. 00:35:40:45 - 00:36:14:00 Alex Imagine trying to say that you learned implants by sitting at a course and watching somebody else. Old casework. You're never going to learn anything by not getting your hands like into the work and doing it yourself. And I think that just like the best implant training centers that actually get you to do the screwing on your own, we teach people in a very physical way where they have a patient that they need to get a final prosthesis bought, and we're taking them through the steps in Excel and how to actually go out and design and then manufacture that. 00:36:14:00 - 00:36:38:11 Alex And so I believe that it's called exocrine, but it's really digital dentistry training because like I said, I cook as the glue of digital dentistry. And the our trainers are actual technicians like yourself who who know about the post-processing techniques and can guide you beyond just design. And so it's a real constant like the training, like being having a digital dentistry coach. 00:36:38:14 - 00:37:05:04 Alex You know, the DDA, we're partnering with the Digital Dental Assisting Academy in 2027. And we're running courses with them and trying to, you know, empower assistants. Dentists are very busy and your time is valuable. But getting assistants and technicians that are in your office on board with learning this is a great, a great way of giving them, you know, opportunities to grow within your organization. 00:37:05:07 - 00:37:23:19 Alex There. They're cutting your lab. There has to be meat on that bone. And there's a lot of things to be said about dental assistants taking on the roles and responsibilities as automation makes digital dentistry and complex manufacturing more standardized. 00:37:23:24 - 00:37:50:09 Rob It's just just because you bought a 3D printer doesn't mean you, doctor so-and-so, wants to sit there and print night guards, and it doesn't mean that your dental assistant woke up this morning with the matrix downloading that information into her brain automatically, either. So it's a great way to, like, allow space for the assistance to grow and step up and fulfill a broader role in the practice, but also still free up time for the doctor and have the and get more and more in-house. 00:37:50:14 - 00:38:16:00 Alex Yeah, if if there's any assistance or doctors that have insistence in mind, send them over to the DEA website. And they have a great amount of resources on post-processing education and how to videos, and they're a great resource as well. But yeah, we do live courses where we go ahead and and do these things. So check out if you want to see a live course. 00:38:16:04 - 00:38:26:50 Alex We'd love to meet you anywhere around the world. We have eight events ready until the end of the year. Right now that we're going to be at, it will be happy to train you and teach you at those. 00:38:26:55 - 00:38:47:52 Rob Absolutely. And don't let that shy you away from the the online training, because one of my favorite things that I discovered along the way with, with doing online coaching is that actually there's an advantage to teaching through zoom because instead of sitting in front of one tiny 15 inch laptop screen fighting over the same mouse, you can sit in your own chair and I can sit on my end and I can draw on your screen, annotate. 00:38:47:52 - 00:39:10:24 Rob We can take you through real cases, and I insist on teaching real cases anywhere possible. By the way, we've talked about this extensively, Alex, but anyone who hasn't heard me say this like, of course, your ideal training data came and you wow, you made a perfect crown on a perfect case. Great. I don't know about you, but having I mean, that made, like, what, 65, 66,000 teeth? 00:39:10:24 - 00:39:14:16 Rob Now, I don't think I've ever come across a perfect case in the real world. 00:39:14:19 - 00:39:19:07 Alex How many, how many patients are actually FP1 for large cases, you know, like. 00:39:19:21 - 00:39:21:36 Rob This they are. Why are they saying the dentist. 00:39:21:40 - 00:39:46:21 Alex Yeah, exactly. It's very kind of one of those situations where most of the time we're working with bad bowling and we're working with the, you know, you know, obstructed situations that we have to problem solve. And I think as designers, you have to learn how to problem solve. And when you're working with that sample data, anywhere, it is made to build you confident to purchase the stuff from the other guys. 00:39:46:24 - 00:40:13:21 Alex And what we're really trying to do is give you a realistic understanding of the how to how to think on your own. And that's where I think the CAD training is kind of turned into its own. It's really like the backbone of our organization. And it, it has helped our labs by by showing off that we are the thought leaders in the space. 00:40:13:24 - 00:40:40:12 Alex Right? So we're training other labs how to do this. And so when people think about a great digital dental lab in general, they think of evolution, dental science or parent company and the and the subsidiaries that we have. And so that's, that's what makes our company really unique is that we've built a reputation on being experts in design, and that design is the lifeblood and glue of digital dentistry. 00:40:40:16 - 00:40:43:50 Rob From soccer player to digital dentistry expert. 00:40:43:55 - 00:41:05:32 Alex Yeah, I wish, I wish I was a professional soccer player breaking the World Cup, but I never had the skills. And I think the smartest thing I ever did was realized that I had an immensely more potential in helping others in digital than I would if I spent five years on the bench at some D1 college. 00:41:05:37 - 00:41:30:48 Rob Well, we're definitely glad to have you, Alex, and thank you for sharing all this stuff about the new website and the company, what we bring to the table, the new offerings that we have available and and what potential people have. So where where can people find you online and where would you like people to to look up to learn more about both evolution or the Evolved in History website? 00:41:30:50 - 00:41:52:16 Alex Yeah. So I think it's worth knowing it should go on to Evolution Dental Science. Com which is our parent company website, and learn about the the different dental laboratories and offerings we have. We have a Evolution Dental Academy, which is an on site school that we founded here in Buffalo, New York that teaches dental technicians. And so we have our own physical school. 00:41:52:21 - 00:42:17:33 Alex We have Evolution Dental Lab in Olivia Dental Lab and in sculpture studios. That's that that are all part of our editors parent company in addition to Evolve Dentistry. But yeah, I mean, we've spoken a lot about the evolved website. Go check out the evolved website. We've we've really proud of it. We're getting amazing feedback on the doctors. The doctors are sending. 00:42:17:38 - 00:42:44:09 Alex You know, they're learning about the system in there, figuring out how to how to piece and part every part of this digital journey. Reach out to Jonny Jackson, my cousin and Josh, my brother. I, like you, said, I'm getting in on the secret. Jackson, I am the I help move the the company in the correct direction based upon my my degree in supply chain management and marketing. 00:42:44:14 - 00:43:00:31 Alex But yeah, if you want all me on Instagram, Alex Jackson or you know. Yeah, I'd be I'd love to talk more about, you know, collaborations with business partners or with get putting you in the right direction of going digital. 00:43:00:36 - 00:43:08:33 Rob Excellent. And speaking of, one of the things you mentioned was our on site education. We have a new building you're going to talk about new building. 00:43:08:36 - 00:43:35:19 Alex Yeah. Oh gosh. Yeah. I'm sitting here in my glass office, which is so beautiful. And I, I'm so blessed that we have purchased and are expanding our facility into A400 zero square foot office space, two floors. We have design and data acquisition on the on the second floor and all of our manufacturing components on the first. It's a beautiful, beautiful building. 00:43:35:24 - 00:43:52:43 Alex But we it's been a long time coming, having a space of our own. And it brings the team together in a way that we've never been fully together. And it's. Yeah, it is, it is bringing us to the next level. Yeah, it's a it's a great place. 00:43:52:48 - 00:44:08:02 Rob It's also it's cool to be able to have a place where you can learn about this stuff, have hands on and then see an entire crew of very enthusiastic people working together as a team to build these restorations every day with the coolest, latest technology that tickles everything inside of my nerd soul. 00:44:08:04 - 00:44:36:28 Alex Yeah, I mean, our manufacturing floor is truly like a showroom. Every product that we that we use, we sell in every product we sell, we use. So come to Buffalo, New York if you're really interested, and you need to have that in-person, tactile experience before you commit, we would love to show you how we're monetizing and capitalizing on this equipment so that you can get leave confident and bringing things in your own practice. 00:44:36:33 - 00:44:46:38 Alex We have this team and the skills to help you in whatever journey you want to start. And from crawling to running and being on your. 00:44:46:43 - 00:44:49:12 Rob Bring your hardest case with you. We'll help you through it. 00:44:49:14 - 00:45:14:14 Alex Yeah. Like that. Oh. I'm moving well all right. Rob, it's it was great to get to talk to you. And I look forward to more podcasts. You're doing a really good job on this. You and Catherine. Catherine, who is the director of the podcast. It really wouldn't be possible without her. She's she's a kick spot. And it's she she does everything from scheduling, post-processing and making the social media posts. 00:45:14:14 - 00:45:22:21 Alex So shout out Catherine for being truly such a great and important part of this. You're you're doing an amazing job, Catherine. 00:45:22:26 - 00:45:35:04 Rob She really does. It's incredible the way she's able to pull together all the visuals, all the conversations again, all the logistics and scheduling. Like, we're very blessed to have Catherine here and hiding behind the monitor over there, usually for most of the episodes. But that's okay. 00:45:35:07 - 00:45:39:43 Alex She's somewhere here. She's she's like a ghost right now in the podcast. 00:45:39:48 - 00:45:58:43 Rob Thanks for joining us for this episode, this special episode of the Evolution of Dental Podcast. Please look for us on all the social media platforms and all your podcast platforms as Evolution of Dental Podcast. Remember to like, subscribe, share the show with your friends. It helps more than you know. If you had any thoughts on what we had here, please don't hesitate to drop us a comment. 00:45:58:43 - 00:46:05:36 Rob And if you'd like to schedule with me, check out the link in our bio. Send me a DM. And remember, never stop evolving.