5 THINGS I CANNOT WORK WITHOUT! WITH CHRIS GOLZE, OWNER OF XS GUARDS AND DYE & GOLZE DENTAL LABORATORY – DONCASTER Leave a comment

This is the first of our new monthly feature where we speak to fellow technicians about the top 5 things they simply could not work without. Chris Golze, owner of XS Guards shares his top 5 with us. We look forward to seeing what other wonderful items technicians cannot work without over the company months.

1. Scheu Ministar
This machine gives fantastic results when forming, especially when layering for mouthguards. I’ve used other machines but found the Ministar allows the user to be in control (good if using different brands of foils) and still produce a great press.
2. Weeding Tool
Some of the graphics we produce are quite intricate and require the waste material to be removed by hand tool. My weeder is a modified surgery instrument and has saved me many hours of bench time!
3. Photoshop
Other graphics software is available but personally I’ve not found anything as user friendly! I don’t use anywhere near all of the features it has and I couldn’t produce and manipulate some of the graphics without it! About 15 years old now and superseded by many updates. It’d be worth paying for again!
4. Ash Number 5
Years of use have shape my number 5 into what is probably my favourite hand tool. This has evolved with me throughout my 25+ years in the lab.
A hand me down as an apprentice, it’s definitely blunter and looking a bit sorry for itself (a bit like myself). I don’t think I have enough bench time left to break another one in!
5. My hands
Like a lot of technicians my hands are the most important tool I have.
Many of the stages in each field of our profession now involve machines that are computer controlled. These machines and the software are extensions of our hands. The manual skills are still relevant to make something individual stand out from a ‘library’. Embrace the technology but don’t forget that it still requires manual skill to make the best of it.