Editor’s Letter

Years ago, I learned a principle from Dr. Russell Giordano, who is the assistant dean of biomaterials and biomaterials research at Boston University. He taught me that offshore labor and manufacturing are on one side of a swinging pendulum, while technical innovation and automation are on the opposite side. When production is cheaper with offshore labor, business is sent overseas — the pendulum swings away. As new technology develops, processes become faster, more reliable and less expensive, leading to onshore production — the pendulum swings back.

Recently, the pendulum has decidedly swung to our shore, led by innovations in artificial intelligence, intraoral scanning, chairside design, milling and 3D printing. Some of these innovations are still in their infancy, and we are going to continue to see additional leaps — AI will be infused into more of what we do; more restorative materials will be 3D printed and the materials themselves will become increasingly esthetic and reliable.

It is hard to know which technology to invest in and what new products or services to choose. This leads to a paradox called choice paralysis. We experience this in our personal lives: Should I upgrade my phone or wait for the next model?  Should I cut the TV cable and move to streaming only? Or choose both? We also encounter this in our professional lives: Which scanner should I get? Which 3D printer? Which mill? CT? Should I invest my capital elsewhere … or at all?

What if there was an ecosystem that helped with these decisions? It would be great to have a place that harnesses the latest technology, combines it with advanced hardware, software and materials and provides excellent guidance and technical support. Glidewell strives to be that ecosystem by vertically integrating research and development, materials science, engineering, manufacturing, automation, robotics, artificial intelligence and scalable production.

This special edition of Chairside^® magazine explores the innovations — and the people behind them — that allow Glidewell to provide leading-edge restorative dental materials with ever-accelerating speed and efficiency. From the engineer who came from the world of F1 racing to the scientist who pioneered AI in dental crown production and the clinicians that provide critical feedback, these stories reveal how the innovations happen. Together, they show why the pendulum continues to tilt toward onshore technology, and how Glidewell remains committed to keeping it there.