Welcome to The BRIDGE, an online network from LMT dedicated exclusively for members of the Dental Laboratory community.
- November 2012
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
REBECCA WADE, CDT: An Artist With Drive
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Like many young artists, Rebecca Wade found joy in expressing herself on canvas. Now that canvas is a crown. An aspiring painter and sculptor who was working toward a degree in computer graphics in 1997, Wade responded to an ad for a part-time position at a dental laboratory only because it mentioned...
Featuring Rebecca Wade, CDT
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
PAUL SIMPSON: From Down-and-Out to Up-and-Coming
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Paul Simpson turned his life around after he discovered dental technology at age 20. Still trying to shake off the consequences of growing up in a bad neighborhood and dropping out of school a few years earlier, he applied for a job at a local laboratory. "I had no car, no high school diploma and was...
Featuring Paul Simpson
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
James Grady: Spearheads Family Lab's Shift to All-Ceramic
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012As a kid, James Grady never envisioned working at his father's laboratory; he wanted to "do his own thing." But then he grew up. "It was when I was in college that I realized the opportunity I'd be passing up. How many people can graduate and get involved in an established business at the level I...
Featuring James Grady, CDT
Christian Scull likes thisFrom the Series: 40 Under Forty
Man Kwok 'Tommy' Zhu, CDT, TE: Nurturing a Thirst For Knowledge
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Tommy Zhu had laid out a detailed plan for becoming a dentist. First, to gain a background in the profession, he enrolled in the Restorative Dentistry program at the New York City College of Technology. After graduation in 2003, the next step was to work as a denture technician to save money for dental...
Featuring Tommy Zhu, CDT/TE
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Krista Hartley, CDT: a Standout in the Removable Specialty
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012"Most of the other students were taken by the 'glamour' of ceramics, but I was drawn to dentures," says Krista Hartley, CDT, referring to her experience at Indian River State College's dental technology program. "I love the challenges of the denture specialty, setting the teeth and establishing the vertical...
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Joshua Polansky: Educated By the Masters
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Joshua Polansky hasn't had just any mentors. Although initially intending to become a dentist like his father, he worked in several laboratories during college and 'fell in love' with dental technology. However, it was in 2003 when he had a one-on-one apprenticeship with Master Technician Olivier Tric...
Featuring Joshua Polansky, MDT
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Jessica Birrell, CDT, FACE: Passionate About Education and Philanthropy
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Confident and passionate, Jessica Birrell believes there's no limit to what she can accomplish in the dental technology field. Since starting her laboratory three years ago, she's developed a successful niche for high-end smile design cases and now she's eager to branch out as an educator and share her...
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Reed Nunnally: Focused On the Numbers
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Reed Nunnally spent five years building his own highly successful construction and real estate business buying, renovating and flipping properties in Louisville, Kentucky's historic Highlands area. But after a couple of years nursing a bad back, he knew he needed to switch gears. His father, David...
Featuring Reed Nunnally
Christian Scull likes thisFrom the Series: 40 Under Forty
Heather Pear, CDT: Loves the Palette of Possibilities
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Heather Pear grew up with a lab in her home and knew from a young age that she wanted to be a technician. At age 15 she worked with her mother—Carol Ruset, CDT, MDT—helping with model and die work and learning every aspect of the lab. "I remember watching her build up a crown and longing...
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Jack Marrano, CDT: Former Marine Runs Multi-Million Dollar Division of Microdental
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012When Lee Culp, CDT—one of the most respected technicians in the world—wants to recognize you for excellence, it would be easy to let it go to your head. But Jack Marrano, CDT, is as modest as he is accomplished. For instance, ask Marrano about his success—at age 34 he runs the multi-million-dollar...
Featuring Jack Marrano, CDT
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Alexander Mouradov, MDT: a Drive For Perfection
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012In 1988 when the Soviet Union collapsed, eight-year-old Alexander Mouradov was forced to flee his home in Baku, Soviet Union to the Northern part of the country. Today, the 32-year-old has overcome his turbulent childhood to become a successful laboratory owner in Connecticut. Mouradov moved to the...
Featuring Alexander Mouradov
Christian Scull likes thisFrom the Series: 40 Under Forty
Adam Mieleszko, CDT: Top-Notch Ceramist Publishes Book in His Second Language
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012When 15-year-old Adam Mieleszko moved to New York from Poland in 1990, he didn't speak any English and never dreamed that, 20 years later, he'd publish a book in his new language. But that's exactly what happened. After graduating from an intensive English as a Second Language high school in Brooklyn,...
Featuring Adam Mieleszko, CDT
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Victor Harp: Not Afraid to Roll Up His Sleeves
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012In 2004, New Image/Laboratory Solutions became the first 3M ESPE Lava Milling Center on the East Coast. Victor Harp, an up-and-coming waxer/finisher, learned the system and wowed everyone with how quickly he picked up the digital process. "He was like a kid in a candy store playing with the machine and...
Christian Scull likes thisFrom the Series: 40 Under Forty
Lauri Steffen: Eager to Prove Removable Prosthetics Are Alive and Kicking
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012>Age: 32 >Production Manager at My Dentist, Inc. >Oklahoma City, OK Lauri Steffen has something to prove. While she's had plenty of opportunities to branch out from removable prosthetics during her 12-year career, she's opted not to. Why? "With so much emphasis being put on fixed restorations,...
Josef Kolbeck and Christian Scull like thisFrom the Series: 40 Under Forty
Billy Goddard, CDT: This Third-Generation Technician Gives Back
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Billy Goddard once met a man and helped change his life. The man&mdas;who drove from western Tennessee to a Mission of Mercy (MOM) event in Virginia—had lost his job and, with several decaying and missing teeth, knew his prospects for getting a job interview were slim. When he left that event,...
Featuring Billy Goddard, CDT
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Megan Gardner: Bridging the Generation Gap With Technology
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Working at her parents' lab was the last thing Megan Gardner thought she'd be doing when she graduated with a graphic design degree. But when the company she worked for went under and she needed a job, her parents had an opening in the model room. It was when she moved into waxing, though, that she had...
Featuring Megan Gardner, CDT
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Brin Vogel: Digital Technician Extraordinaire
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Every CAD/CAM department needs a Brin Vogel. Throughout the past five years, Vogel has been instrumental in implementing Knight Dental Group's CAD/CAM and advanced technology initiatives. But he's also proven to be a dynamo in computer networking, troubleshooting, material evaluation, process integration...
Christian Scull likes thisFrom the Series: 40 Under Forty
Mike Wandling, CDT: Leading By Example
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012There are technicians attracted to the artistic side of dental technology, and then there's Mike Wandling. "I love the math, science and biology that's involved," he says. "This field has a little bit of all of those things and I enjoy using them to enhance a person's look and function." Since joining...
Featuring Michael Wandling, CDT
Carla Miller and Christian Scull like thisFrom the Series: 40 Under Forty
Josef Kolbeck: a Technical Innovator
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Josef Kolbeck has accomplished a lot in his 12 years in the industry. He received his dental technology degree from the Universidad Latina of Costa Rica, served as Academic Coordinator in dental technology at that same university, owned his own lab and is currently the managing director of a five-person...
Featuring Josef Kolbeck
Christian Scull likes thisFrom the Series: 40 Under Forty
Jose Martinez: 'It Just Doesn't Get Old' For This Young Manager
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012You might say his brother's loss was his gain. When someone at church offered Jose Martinez's brother a job at a local laboratory, his brother wasn't interested. But Martinez was. "It was supposed to be in the model room, but when I got to the lab, I was told I'd be in the finishing department. I...
Featuring Jose Martinez
Christian Scull and Jose Martinez like thisFrom the Series: 40 Under Forty
Martin Martinez: a Master of High-Profile Smiles
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012When you're a ceramist at a lab known as the "Lab to the Stars" in Beverly Hills, CA, you know you're going to have some exacting clients. But Martin Martinez's painstaking attention to detail and artistic talents—he's also a painter and illustrator—make him the man for the job. "Our clients...
Featuring Martin Martinez
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Brandon Dickerman: Recent College Grad Implements High-Tech Implant Software in Family Lab
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Brandon Dickerman never planned to join the family business, Dickerman Dental Prosthetics which was started by his grandfather, Myron Dickerman, CDT, nearly 50 years ago. "Everyone outside my family always assumed that's what I was going to do so, naturally, I decided to go the other way," he recalls...
Featuring Brandon Dickerman
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Julian Infante, CDT: a Constant Student, a Natural Teacher
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012From a family of educators, Julian Infante, CDT, has both a love of learning and a gift for teaching. He earned his Associate's degree from Bates Technical College and eventually joined Modern Dental Lab—then called Northwest Labs—in Bellevue, WA in 2006. Since then, he has earned his...
Featuring Julian Infante
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Christian Scull: 'The Total Package'
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Many in our community have been inspired by Christian Scull and his remarkable combination of technical, teaching and business skills. For example, NaRae Free, Model Technician and Stain and Glaze Specialist, who worked with him at Esthetic Alliance in Las Vegas for two years, says "Besides fabricating...
Featuring Christian Scull
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Brian Nagle: Renstrom's Go-To Guy
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012If the staff members at Renstrom Dental Studio need something done, they call Brian Nagle. While Nagle mainly focuses on the lab's CAD/CAM restorations, he can pitch in wherever he's needed in the laboratory. "I'm able to do a lot of different things—trim dies, waxups, technical troubleshooting,"...
Featuring Brian Nagle
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
Ryan Napolitano: Takes 'Mom and Pop' to State of the Art
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012To say Ryan Napolitano made some changes to his father's laboratory is an understatement. In 2003, Precision Craft was a 17-person, "mom-and-pop" operation in a 3,500-sq-ft space. Today, it has doubled in size—in terms of staff and dentist-clients—and operates in a $3.4 million, 14,000-sq-ft...
Featuring Ryan Napolitano and Richard Napolitano
Christian Scull likes thisFrom the Series: 40 Under Forty
Walter Orellana: Savvy Marketer and Relationship Builder
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Marketing maven Walter Orellana has gone back to basics; in today's changing landscape, he believes face-to-face sales and personal relationships are the real keys to success. That's proven true at Excel Dental Studios where he was hired last year to help rebrand the laboratory, broaden its target...
Featuring Walter Orellana
Carla Miller and Christian Scull like thisFrom the Series: 40 Under Forty
Marisa Birnbaum: This Go-Getter Isn't Afraid of a Challenge
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Marisa Birnbaum doesn't back down from a challenge. In 2007, she and her brother David—who both learned about CAD technology at the Bronx High School of Science—opened a mobile laboratory operation with little laboratory or business experience, using the CEREC inlab system to make same-day...
Featuring Marisa Birnbaum
Andrew Kissin and Christian Scull like thisFrom the Series: 40 Under Forty
Maged Mohareb, CDT: Fulfilling the American Dream
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012"IF I WON'T put the restoration in my mouth, I won't deliver it to my client or the patient." This is Maged Mohareb's guiding principle, and the one he applies to his quality control responsibilities every day at Glidewell Dental Laboratories in Newport Beach, CA and imparts to the many technicians he...
Featuring Maged Mohareb, CDT
From the Series: 40 Under Forty
John Finn, CDT: Just Try to Stop Him
LMT Communications, Inc. · Labs & Profiles · Nov 2012Jerry Kaizer, Owner of Murray Kaizer, Inc., once had to kick John Finn out of the lab. "It was late and he said 'I'm not leaving until you leave,' but I wouldn't because I wanted to finish what I was working on," recalls Finn with a laugh. "He finally made me leave with him, but I had a key, so I went...
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About This Series
LMT profiles 40 young men and women who were nominated to be part of this special coverage due to their top-notch technical skill, business savvy, passion and determination.
Tagged In This Series · See All 32
Ken Becker, CDT
Marisa Birnbaum
Monica Daniel
Brandon Dickerman- Megan Gardner, CDT
Jerry Giuliano Jr
Billy Goddard, CDT- James Grady, CDT
- Julian Infante
Josef Kolbeck
Jack Marrano, CDT
Martin Martinez- Jose Martinez
- Adam Mieleszko, CDT
Maged Mohareb, CDT- Alexander Mouradov
Edgar Munoz, CDT- Brian Nagle
- Ryan Napolitano
Richard Napolitano
Alwyn Naraine, CDT
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LMT Communications, Inc.
Newtown CT, United StatesBusiness Strategies for Dental Lab Decision-Makers
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