Josh Jakson’s path into digital dentistry started long before he had a job title. He grew up around it. His father, a Polish immigrant, started the family’s dental laboratory in Buffalo, New York, about 30 years ago. Before that, Jakson’s grandfather had worked as an engineer in Poland and later in the U.S. automotive industry. That technical mindset helped shape the family business from the start.
“My dad’s interest in the industry was always about helping people smile,” Jakson told 3DPrint.com. “But our family also came from an engineering background, so dentistry in our house was always connected to manufacturing, materials, and understanding how things were actually made. That really became the foundation of our dental lab from the beginning.”
Joshua Jakson.
Before starting the lab, Jakson’s father originally wanted to become a dentist. But his grandfather encouraged him to first learn the technical side of the industry and understand how dental prosthetics were actually made. It was that decision that eventually shaped the future of the family business.
It led to Evolution Dental Solutions, a Buffalo-based dental lab that now works with crowns, bridges, implants, dentures, and other restorations, using digital tools and 3D printing. Jakson is Chief Case Designer at Evolution Dental Solutions, and President of Evolve Technology, the company’s sister business focused on digital dentistry equipment and workflows.
Over time, the company became heavily involved in digital dentures, CAD/CAM design, scanning workflows, and later 3D printing. According to Jakson, that evolution eventually turned one of dentistry’s most labor-intensive products into one of additive manufacturing’s clearest real-world production applications.
Dentures, he said, became the clearest example of how digital workflows could fundamentally change the economics and scalability of a dental lab.
“For years, denture production was one of the most labor-heavy parts of the dental lab. It required waxing, investing, finishing, carving, correcting mistakes, and a long chain of manual steps. Dentures were always a thorn in our side because they required a ton of hand-touch processing. But that is changing. Today, our team uses digital scans, CAD workflows, and 3D printing to turn denture production into something much closer to a repeatable manufacturing process,” he explained. “We can really make it a much more scalable process. We take the scans and design the CAD using a clear, chronological workflow. We can then go into processing that on a 3D printer.”
Evolution Dental Solutions uses 3D Systems’ NextDent 300 printer and NextDent materials to produce dentures. And according to a case study he shared during the interview, the lab produces about 20 to 30 dentures per day and plans to scale up by adding another machine.
NextDent 300 printer. Image courtesy of 3D Systems.
Jakson said the biggest change is not just that the printer makes the part. The workflow removes many o
Josh Jakson’s path into digital dentistry started long before he had a job title. He grew up around it. His father, a Polish immigrant, started the family’s dental laboratory in Buffalo, New York, about 30 years ago. Before that, Jakson’s grandfather had worked as an engineer in Poland and later in the U.S. automotive industry. That technical mindset helped shape the family business from the start.
“My dad’s interest in the industry was always about helping people smile,” Jakson told 3DPrint.com. “But our family also came from an engineering background, so dentistry in our house was always connected to manufacturing, materials, and understanding how things were actually made. That really became the foundation of our dental lab from the beginning.”
Joshua Jakson.
Before starting the lab, Jakson’s father originally wanted to become a dentist. But his grandfather encouraged him to first learn the technical side of the industry and understand how dental prosthetics were actually made. It was that decision that eventually shaped the future of the family business.
It led to Evolution Dental Solutions, a Buffalo-based dental lab that now works with crowns, bridges, implants, dentures, and other restorations, using digital tools and 3D printing. Jakson is Chief Case Designer at Evolution Dental Solutions, and President of Evolve Technology, the company’s sister business focused on digital dentistry equipment and workflows.
Over time, the company became heavily involved in digital dentures, CAD/CAM design, scanning workflows, and later 3D printing. According to Jakson, that evolution eventually turned one of dentistry’s most labor-intensive products into one of additive manufacturing’s clearest real-world production applications.
Dentures, he said, became the clearest example of how digital workflows could fundamentally change the economics and scalability of a dental lab.
“For years, denture production was one of the most labor-heavy parts of the dental lab. It required waxing, investing, finishing, carving, correcting mistakes, and a long chain of manual steps. Dentures were always a thorn in our side because they required a ton of hand-touch processing. But that is changing. Today, our team uses digital scans, CAD workflows, and 3D printing to turn denture production into something much closer to a repeatable manufacturing process,” he explained. “We can really make it a much more scalable process. We take the scans and design the CAD using a clear, chronological workflow. We can then go into processing that on a 3D printer.”
Evolution Dental Solutions uses 3D Systems’ NextDent 300 printer and NextDent materials to produce dentures. And according to a case study he shared during the interview, the lab produces about 20 to 30 dentures per day and plans to scale up by adding another machine.
NextDent 300 printer. Image courtesy of 3D Systems.
Jakson said the biggest change is not just that the printer makes the part. The workflow removes many o