What's on My Bench? With Josh Polansky, Master Dental Technician

July 16, 2018 | CAD/CAM, General, Materials

I'm going to take you on a tour of my bench and describe my favorite, tried-and-true products that I use daily. To give you a little background about myself, I started working part-time at a dental laboratory and apprenticed under master technician, Olivier Tric of Oral Design Chicago. Mr. Tric opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities and inspired me to become a master dental technician.

I continued to acquire technical skills while studying in Europe with experts and mentors in the field like Klaus Mutertheis. I went on to earn a master's degree in Dental Ceramics at UCLA Center for Esthetic Dentistry. I continued my training at UCLA's Advanced Prosthodontics and Maxillofacial program. For the last 10 years I've owned Niche Dental Lab Studio.

Below I'm going to describe the tools I've been using for years. I wouldn't know what to do without them!

• Harvest Dental - Porcelain Mixing Tray: I take a lot of pride in having this on my bench because we spent a long time developing this tray with Harvest. I really like that the surface is huge and colored black because it allows the ceramics to be shown better.
• Harvest Dental - Temp Esthetic PMMA Disc (98mm x 12mm): When it comes to temporaries, we use this. For me, this material is the best on the market. I really think it's an amazing material.
• GC America - GC Initial: I've been using this porcelain in my lab exclusively since we opened our doors in 2007.
• GC America - GC Initial LiSi Press: This has been a huge part my laboratory shift to digital.
• GC America - GC Initial Spectrum Stain: I love this product! I've been working with GC on product development for a long time so I'm very familiar with it.
• Amann Girrbach - Artex Articulator CR: A nice articulator is always important. This one is like a functional piece of art on my bench.
• I couldn't do anything without a tweezer. I use the Renfert - Jacket-Grip Boley Style Tweezers Curved
• Renfert - Jacket-Grip Boley Style Tweezers Curved: I couldn't do anything without a tweezer!
• America Dental Supply - Firing Tray & Pegs Honeycomb: This is basic, but I couldn't work without this!
• Renfert - Keramogrip Tweezers Curved: This is another one of my favorite tweezers. It's a crown holder with a diamond tip. I use it every day.
• Harvest Dental - Wax Press Disc Grey (98mm x 12mm): I use this wax almost exclusively. We are getting great results with this and as a bonus, it smells good!
• Harvest Dental - Super Peg II Refractory 12cc Syringe: Another product I wouldn't know what to do without. After you fire it, it's super easy to pop the material right out.

Check out my what's on my bench video!