5 THINGS I CANNOT WORK WITHOUT! WITH SEAN WARD Leave a comment
We spoke with Sean Ward from Echo Dental Solutions Dental Lab recently about his 5 most treasured things that he cannot work without. Sean has certainly got an interesting way of warming up his lunch.
1.WAX KNIVES
Being mainly in the removable prosthetics field I have a certain penchant for a pair of wax knives I possess. Yes, a pair, both exactly the same, the same size, the same blade and the same spoon end. The reasoning for this is quite simple, when waxing up or setting up. I have no need to change around to which end of the knife I need to use I just pick up my alternate one.
This saves getting burned on the back of the hand when I need to swap. One thing it doesn’t stop though is getting burned when I pick up the wrong one at the wrong end when I’ve left the bench for any reason.
2. MY ASH CARVER NO5.
When I was a younger tech a colleague said to me to try to get my own instrument adapted to me for carving, then if anyone lifts yours they won’t be able to use it.
I didn’t do this, but over the years I have only ever been able to use one type of Ash no5. Depending on where you source them the blade is designed slightly different, and no matter how often I’ve tried, I go back to the original shape I used when I was at college. I have multiple Ash carvers but I only use one.
3. DREVE LABORMAT
My Dreve Labormat boiling out machine is the workhorse of my prosthetics lab. It is also very versatile and has several other roles! Firstly, I keep my hydro flask on top of this and it keeps the water at a good hand hot so we aren’t running water every time we need to cure a repair or addition.
It also serves its Lab well – it keeps our teapot warm along with associated pies and sausage rolls etc. I myself use it to heat up my lunch in my sealed box which sits nicely inside on the boiling out shelf.
4. MY STAFF
I have to mention my staff here. As a small Lab the ability to trust and rely on your staff is essential. Gemma who is in everyday usually (Covid allowing) books all the work in. She keeps me up to date with reminders, sorts out the ordering and postage etc, and makes a Braw cup of tea. We stop work for Radio 2’s Popmaster every day and woe betide anyone who calls between 10:30 and 10:50.
Getting the right staff is hard, and at the end of the day, they have to be able to work with me and put up with all my quirks.
5. OTHER LABS
My final one most labs will understand. There are some jobs that we subcontract out. It’s not just a case of sending work to another lab, we have to build up the trust and rapport that goes with it. I don’t see these other labs as other businesses but as an extension of my own lab. I try not to put pressure on them as I know they are under enough pressure, as are we all.
I have used a few chrome labs and had a few failings with some of these in the past because I wasn’t happy putting the work out they sent me. Over the years I have settled on two labs, so HJ Creative and Chrome Design both get a mention here. The communication, ability and willingness to discuss complex cases is great.
I must also mention Fusion ceramics who do some of my C&B work. I have met and known only one of these but it goes to show I will work with people I know or don’t know if we share the same goals. I’ll include suppliers here, and whilst I use several suppliers I’ve built up a rapport with two in particular: Wright Cottrell and WHW. I had not intentionally singled out these two suppliers, however I have used them since I started in business, and they are key to us.
