Elegant Dental Laboratory Blog
Articles on digital dentistry, clinical tips, case planning, and dental lab workflow.
Then and Now: How Crowns Went From Hammered Gold to Zirconia
Part 3 of our Then and Now series: how crowns were made from the 1873 gold crown patent to PFM,...
CDT Codes for Dental Lab Work: 2026 Cheat Sheet for Crowns, Bridges, Implants and Dentures
A plain-English cheat sheet of the CDT codes tied to lab work: crowns by material and alloy class, bridge units,...
TRIOS 3 vs. TRIOS 6: Which 3Shape Scanner Fits Your Practice?
Wired vs wireless, speed, diagnostics, carts, care plans, accuracy evidence and US list prices for 3Shape TRIOS 3 and TRIOS...
Dental Insurance Then and Now: From a 1954 Union Plan to the $1,500 Maximum
Part 2 of our Then and Now series: how dental insurance began, why Medicare left dental out, how the $1,000...
Will AI Replace Dentists and Dental Technicians? What the Data Say in 2026
How dentists use AI in 2026, what the FDA has cleared, what caries and crown design studies show, what robots...
The Dental Practice Squeeze: What the Numbers Say About 2026
Reimbursement up 19% against 27% inflation, real income down since 2010, hygienists hard to hire and patients skipping care: the...
How to Send a Scan to a Dental Lab: iTero, TRIOS, Medit, CEREC, DEXIS and More
Current, step-by-step instructions for connecting a dental lab and sending cases from iTero, 3Shape TRIOS, Medit, CEREC and Primescan, DEXIS,...
Dental Prices Then and Now: Why Dentistry Costs 15 Times More Than in 1970
What dental care cost, who paid for it and how insurance kept up (or did not) from the 1950s to...
