Customer
Dobson Ortho Lab
Headquarters
Gainesville, Georgia
Industry
Dental
Employees
6
As one of the largest providers of tooth positioners in the US—and a family-owned and operated orthodontics lab with more than 150 years of experience between its four founders—quality craftsmanship is an absolute given.
“In orthodontics, everything is custom. No two appliances are the same,” says James Dobson, vice president of Dobson Ortho Lab. “It’s our family name that goes out the door, so we have to make sure that we’re offering handcrafted, quality appliances and putting the customer’s needs first for every case that they send us.”
In order for their team to make the highly accurate appliances that their customers have come to expect—like invisible retainers, acrylic retainers, positioners, and splits—Dobson Ortho Lab depends on the latest additive manufacturing technology, says Dobson.
“For today’s modern orthodontic lab, two technology advancements are mission critical for technicians to get the best results. First, you have to be able to receive high-quality digital scans of the patient’s anatomy. Second, you have to have a reliable and precise printer. Without a printer that is both highly precise and high quality, the digital scans don’t matter,” says Dobson.
When the Dobson family founded their lab in 2016, they invested in Stratasys printers as part of their arsenal because of their reputation for reliability and accuracy.
“In my years as a technician, I’ve seen some other technologies, such as SLA printers, have breakdown issues,” says Dobson. “For a printer that we consider to be mission critical we chose a solution that offered a streamlined, efficient workflow with maximum uptime."
Today, the lab runs the J5 DentaJet printer, two Eden260 legacy Stratasys printers which are still “going strong,” after eight years of use, and the DentaJet XL, which adds more print capacity, larger material cartridges, and High Quality High Speed Mode.
“When we recently needed an additional printer, the J5 DentaJet XL was the natural evolution,” says Dobson. “If you compare this unit to the old Eden260 legacy printers, the footprint is about 33% less, while printing about 40% more models. In addition, the larger 4 kg resin cartridges mean less material changes, and with the super high speed mode, it just made sense.”
But when it comes to high-speed performance, not all printers are the same, cautions Dobson.
“Some of the dental technologies advertise that they print very fast, but most of them have very small build platforms. Because of that, you can only print a handful of models at a time, so some of the savings you get from having a fast printer is negated because you have to allocate staffing to be able to run those printers, make sure there are always models on them, and get the throughput you desire,” says Dobson.
“For us, it’s great to have larger print platforms that you can set and forget,” says Dobson. “You hit start, walk away, and you have a plate full of 35-40 models that are ready to go.
“PolyJet technology enables us to produce the quality models we’re known for, and also simplifies post-processing, eliminating traditional steps like support nub removal or isopropyl alcohol baths, which can be cause for concern when it comes to flammability and fumes.
“Another advantage of the PolyJet system is that we don’t have to use separator medium when we pour our acrylic appliances,” says Dobson. “The acrylic just pops right off the pallet. It’s one less material we have to use in the process, which is a huge advantage for us.”
One of Dobson’s favorite features of the lab’s dental 3D printing arsenal is Stratasys’ GrabCAD Print software, which allows technicians to streamline their 3D print workflow, perform all production setup on a single platform, and manage multiple print jobs on different printers.
“GrabCAD just really makes things easier for technicians because it is so fast. You can simply drag in models, hit auto-arrange, and the models are automatically nested with support in an optimal way on the tray. For me, a print job is generally going to take 5 minutes or less from the time I start it to the time I’m hitting print,” says Dobson.
Dobson is proud to highlight feedback from the founder and owner of Kalamazoo Orthodontics that speaks to the quality and accuracy of the appliances they are able to create using Stratasys technology.
“Over more than 30 years of clinical practice and teaching, I worked with a substantial number of orthodontic appliances and laboratories for their fabrication,” writes Dr. S. Jay Bowman of Kalamazoo Orthodontics. “When I was introduced to Dobson Ortho Laboratory, the search ended, and all laboratory fabrication was purposely eliminated from my practice, especially when we introduced Dobson’s digital workflow.
“The clarity and fit of our clear retainers are second to none and the accuracy of positioners is also superb,” writes Dr. Bowman.
“Working with Stratasys has always been great for us, and we’ve had nothing but great customer support,” says Dobson. “When you have a piece of mission critical machinery, it’s very important to weigh things like ROI and total cost of ownership—but also what happens if the machine has an issue. There’s no piece of machinery in the world that isn’t susceptible to some kind of breakdown or downtime for maintenance.”
As a member of Dental Priority, Stratasys’ exclusive service program, the lab is able to reach phone support immediately or get a technician onsite “generally within a day,” says Dobson.
“What I love about Stratasys is that they are always there to support us whenever we need. If we have an issue, they’re going to send support on-site very quickly. If we just have a question or need a general information, there is always someone available to talk to.”
