114 AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST LABS Andent’s recently appointed Lab Manager, Marc Mifsud, offers fresh perspectives on the dynamic lab and its rapidly evolving technology and processes. As the year comes to a close, Andent is getting ready to welcome 12 new months ahead. This is underscored by its festive campaign: “New Year, New Lab – Get ready for the New Year and partner with a lab you’ll love in 2023”. Instead of an ad-hoc relationship, the Melbourne lab is proposing a win-win partnership, built upon sustained dialogue and interaction. “There is really no replacement for regular and open communication between the patient, clinician and technician,” says Marc Mifsud, Andent’s new Lab Manager. Marc believes a symbiotic relationship between the technician and client paves the way for more accurate and predictable outcomes for the patient. Introducing Marc Mifsud While a relative newcomer to Andent customers, Marc is a familiar face in the Australian dental tech scene. For 16 years, Mifsud was the dental technician and business owner of Smile Reflections Dental Laboratory on Collins Street. He assumed the Andent role in February, having recently sold his portion of the business. Before that, and since completing his apprenticeship in 1998, Marc had been honing his craft as a dental lab technician in Melbournian outfits, and even did a three-year stint with a UK lab. Still, the former lab boss doesn’t see Andent as just another dental laboratory on the block. On the contrary, Marc believes the digitally advanced establishment to be in a league of its own. “The demands of high digital technology here are amazing. It’s probably the biggest digital lab production facility in the whole of Australia,” he surmises. “We are in the position to elevate the process because we’re fully compatible with all the digital systems.” Open system, departmentalised technicians The massive scale of the operations also comes with a steep learning curve, mostly due to the open-systems infrastructure of the business. “We’re able to receive all types of digital files and scans from all the major dental solutions providers you can think of,” he adds. “Compared to other Australian labs, we have many more skilled technicians, milling machines, cutting-edge technology, and 3D printers that work across different materials – everything fromzirconia, E.Max, titanium, cobalt chrome, PMMA and wax. This means we also have the ability to mill genuine customised titanium abutments across multiple implant suppliers. ” “Being part of a technologically advanced team means I have to decipher all the current available systems while keeping an eye on what’s on the horizon.” At the moment, Andent has 12 milling machines – they just ordered a PrograMill PM7 from Ivoclar – in addition to ten 3D printers. The self-sufficient lab designs, mills, prints and produces everything in-house. For a local facility that does not outsource anything or rely on third-party technicians, Marc says the managers and technicians get to keep a tight lid on quality control with departmental heads micro-managing the processes. “We’ve got a great system in place with employees to keep their competency and skill levels up,” he adds. “We can track each case to its assigned technician. By monitoring the percentage of cases that come back for remakes, we’re able to pin point information gaps to better design our regular on-the job training programs.” System-backed personalised service A fully digitised set-up enables the lab to assign a barcode to every bench and job. The data files and scans are easily transferable between the technicians, each of them working on a dedicated terminal and screen, where they can call up images, shades or case history for any customer at any given time. Each stock inventory also has an individual barcode that facilitates real-time feedback to patients on specific product availability, and the unique code may also be tracked to its respective patient case. “Due to the size of our lab, some people may think that we lack a more personalised customer service,” he says. As good as new By Danny Chan
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