Articles
Dental Lab Products
Oct 2020
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By Conrad J. Rensburg and Chris Love
Not Your Grandfathers False Teeth
According to 1989’s Back to the Future Part II, by 2015, we would have video billboards, flying cars, and hover boards. We certainly got those billboards
(yay), but the film missed the boat on the airborne items
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Dental Lab Products
Oct 2020
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By Jack Marrano
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Speed Polish From Harvest Dental
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Over the years we have witnessed and enjoyed the benefits of CAD/CAM technology and material advancements. These advancements are now being coupled with advancements in support products that pair perfectly with today’s modern materials. Harvest Dental’s Speed Polish is an example of an advanced support product.
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LMT
Nov 2020
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By Jack Marrano
How to Block Out Understructures When Using Translucent Zironia
Zirconia has evolved into the restorative material of choice and recent advancements have resulted in a material that's unsurpassed not only in strenght but in esthetics as well, even in monolithic full contour restorations.
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IDT
Sept 2020
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By Conrad J Rensburg
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Printing vs Milling Dentures
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Over the last two decades, the dental industry has seen the rise of subtractive manufacturing technology. CAD software programs have proven predictable and are now also within the financial reach of most dental laboratories. However, a new challenger has emerged to test milling's technological supremacy: additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing.
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Dental Lab Products
Aug 2020
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By Conrad J. Rensburg
Balance Digital and Analog Design
Most technicians, trained in the 1990s and before, fully understand the design freedom that a wax-knife, a Bunsen burner, and a block of wax offered. This was a world where a talented artist—with a firm understanding of function, anatomy, esthetics, and a willingness to work long hours—easily ruled the universe.
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JDT
Feb 2020
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By Conrad J Rensburg
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The Artist’s Brush of the Future
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Many of today’s articles focus on the implementation of innovative technologies.
But without FDA approved, strong and most importantly esthetic restorative
materials to support them, these technologies are nothing but “dust collectors”.
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Inside Dental Technology
Jan 2020
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By Conrad J. Rensburg
Digital Dentures Lead to Laboratory's Best Year
Conrad J. Rensburg, ND, NHD, has seen certain trends in the dental laboratory profession - profit margins shrinking, businesses closing. He just does not see those trends in his own laboratory. Absolute Dental Services experienced approximately 20% growth in 2019, including more than 30% for its national business.
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Inside Dental Technology
Oct 2019
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By Conrad J Rensburg and Jack Marrano
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Nanoceramics and Nanocomposites
in Im-plant-Retained Fixed Hybirds
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Over the last few Decades, the dental industry has experienced a staggering evolution in technology. This evolution has caused a need for better materials and ultimately has led to the development of new and exciting products. These products have opened the door for the creation of extremely innovative new treatment protocols. Arguably, one of the biggest advancements during this period has been the ability to treat the edentulos patient with fixed hybrid solution.
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Inside Dentistry
Sept 2019
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By Conrad J. Rensburg and David Hedgecoe, DDS
The Missing Link in the Digital Workflow Clock
During the last decade, the dental industry has witnessed a true technological revolution. Initially, the progression was slow, and the early adopters quickly realized that the line between being at the leading edge and the bleeding edge was a faint one at best.1 Once all of the cogs in the digital workflow clock start-ed working together, the technological revolution truly turned exponential. Yesterday’s question of whether or not to go digital has now been replaced with the question of how to stay abreast of all this technology.
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LMT
May 2019
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By Conrad J. Rensburg
Fifth time's a Charm: Laboratory Renovation Achieves 'Wow' Factor
Absolute Dental Services knows a thing or two about growth: Due to its constantly expanding roster of staff members and services, it has renovated its Durham, NC. headquarters five times in the last 13 years. "If i have any advice for other lab owners, it's this: if you're expanding, go bigger than you think you need. We've had to renovate multiple times because we were always thinking just a little bit too small,' says Conrad Rensburg who co-owns the laboratory with Drew Van Aarde.
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Inside Dental Technology
May 2019
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By Jack Marrano
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High-End Technician's Journey Continues
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Jack Marrano, CDT, recalls his first job in a dental laboratory as a minimum-wage position, working 7 days a week, arriving at 4:30 AM but not clocking in until 8:00. After 4 years in the Marine Corps, Marrano was driven to succeed in the profession he fell in love with as a 14-year-old sitting in on classes at the University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine.
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Inside Dental Technology
March 2019
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By Conrad J. Rensburg
Fricton-Retained Hybrid Prostheses
One of the most popular new approaches to implant dentistry involves the use of removable, friction-retained hybrid prostheses. The concept is based on the time-tested SynCone system.1 In the early days of implant dentistry, restorative options were easily defined as either supported or retained options,2 but with innovation and change often comes confusion and questions. The concept of a removable, friction-retained hybrid prosthesis truly epitomizes the gray area between implant-supported and implant-retained prosthetics. Experience has taught today's professionals to restore retained and supported protocols with different techniques. Unfortunately, using a protocol that relies on both systems for success can become a more daunting task.
LMT
February 2019
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By Conrad J. Rensburg
Absolute Dental Lab Celebrates 25th Anniversary
Absolute Dental Services, headquartered in Durham, NC, is celebrating a milestone this year: 25 years in business. The company was purchased by South Africa natives Conrad Rensburg and Drew van Aarde in the early 2000s. Over the years, the team has grown from four technicians to more than 120 employees
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LMT
January 2019
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By Conrad J. Rensburg
Many Lab Owners Ramping Up for Growth and Change in 2019
Every December, I like to reach out to LMT readers to learn about their business goals and priorities for the upcoming year. It’s always enlightening to hear about their strategies for success. This year, plans run the gamut from ramping up for growth to working hard to hand over the reins.
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LMT
Januray 2019
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By Conrad J. Rensburg
Absolute Dental Services
Opens New Branch in South Carolina
Established in 1994 with headquarters in the Triangle of North Carolina, Absolute Dental has opened its fourth office in the Charleston, SC, area. Brad and Roy Duncan, former owners of Duncan Dental Lab in Charleston, will lead the new branch
Dentistry Today
August 2018
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By Conrad J. Rensburg
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Screw Retained: The Future of Implant Dentistry!
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Our industry seems to have come full circle. what was once considered old and outdated is now considered new and exciting! This statement accurately describes the evolution we have seen in implant dentistry over the last 2 decades.
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JDT
1st Quarter 2019
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By Conrad J. Rensburg
Making the Impossible Manageable: Esther's Story
It was a "feel good" Human interest story; the kind you often see on a TV broadcast to balance out the day's sad news. ABC11, out Raleigh North Carolina, ran a piece about a woman named Esther, who found a wedding ring in the parking lot of a local Walmart. Wanting to get the wedding ring back to its rightful owner, Esther reached out to ABC11. With their help, and after weeks of searching through social media sources, Esther found the ecstatic owner and returned her wedding band.
Focus
4th Quarter 2017
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By Conrad J. Rensburg
The Evolution of Restoring Dental Implants: A CoCr Alloy Case Study
The ability to embrace and implement cutting edge technology gives today’s dental lab the advantage needed to survive in an ever-changing market. In my more than 25 years in the dental technology industry, I have seen a definite shift from technicians being seen as the guy in the backroom making teeth to one of the most valued partners in the restorative team.
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Inside Dental Technology
April 2016, Volume 7, Issue 4
Published by AEGIS Communications
Giving Back
Laboratory professionals working to make the world a better place
By Jason Mazda
Conrad Rensburg attributes his outlook on life to two extraordinary events — one that propelled him to success as a dental laboratory owner, and another that nearly took it all away.
A result of these events was the Absolute Cares Foundation, through which Rensburg, business partner Drew Van Arde, and associates help people in need in various ways, from renovating a home to sponsoring a local athlete.
Read More
Inside Dental Technology
May 2015, Volume 6, Issue 5
Published by AEGIS Communications
Cement-Free Esthetics: The Exceptional Difference
This technology changes the Long-standing norms
By Conrad J. Rensburg, ND, NHD
With the ever-increasing amount of new technologies, products, and procedures available to dental laboratories today, it is becoming exponentially more difficult to differentiate between the exceptional and the average. Not only is it important for laboratories to choose carefully before investing, but it’s even more essential for laboratories to be cautious before they introduce these technologies to their customers.
Inside Dental Technology
September 2014, Volume 5, Issue 9
Published by AEGIS Communications
Business Ethics and Savvy Lead to a Successful Laboratory
This carefully crafted laboratory values its partnerships
Business success and business ethics can become estranged bedfellows when confronted by an economic downturn, global competition, and gray-market practices. That is, unless you have a higher commitment to fulfill in life and push back against the grain by building a holistic business culture that measures success not only by its ability to provide the best in patient care but also by stretching that caring culture into the social fabric of the community being served. It’s a business model that Conrad Rensburg, ND, NHD, believes is responsible for the high degree of success and business growth he and his partner, Drew Van Aarde, ND, NHD, have achieved since their 2004 purchase of North Carolina-based Absolute Dental Services.
Read More
Ceramic Artistry Returns to
Fixed Hybrids
By Conrad J. Rensburg, ND, NHD
Patient History and Expectations
Alongtime patient maintained her maxillary teeth as long as she could, but we knew she had some teeth that were non-restorable and she was facing some decisions (Fig. 1a). Her maxillary fixed bridge was fractured and had been re-cemented numerous times. The patient did not want a removeable prosthesis. In addition, her extreme gag reflex took other options, such as anything with a palate, off the table. She eventually chose to do a fixed full arch implant supported prosthesis and was adamant that she did not want denture type esthetics.