Adrian has worked at Watersedge from Day One of the lab’s operation. In fact, his very first assignment was putting together IKEA furniture in the breakroom!
Adrian’s Background And Current Role at Watersedge
Growing up, Adrian had a great example. His father, Rob Waters, was successful in the dental lab field… and eventually opened Watersedge in 2013. Adrian learned from his dad that if you work hard in this industry, and you commit yourself, then the sky’s the limit of how far you can advance in your career.
Since he started at Watersedge in 2013, Adrian has definitely worked hard, learning the ropes in a variety of departments — plaster, metals, and dental implants.
Currently, he is a QA (Quality Assessment) technician. His job involves checking the cases before they leave the lab and ensuring that the quality is up to Watersedge’s high standards. But there’s more to his role than inspecting completed cases.
Communication With Practitioners
Many labs, when provided with insufficient information, will “fudge” the work. However, Watersedge takes a different approach, stressing the importance of communication with the dental practitioner as early as possible.
Adrian serves as one of the main points of contact for practitioners when there is an issue. For example, he’ll reach out if the quality of an open or closed tray impression is not high enough for the lab to make a reliable restoration. He will also make contact when the lab team has alternative ideas of how to approach a particular case. Perhaps the doctor is asking for a full metal crown, but the prep is very small without much cementable area. Therefore, he might reach out to recommend doing an E-max crown instead since it’s bondable.
“Detective” Work
Watersedge offers clinicians a wealth of knowledge and experience. The team works with over 300 dentists in the city of Ottawa alone, seeing 100 or more cases coming into the lab every single day.
Because of the volume of restorative work, they often recognize something in a case that a doctor may not have seen before and can predict the possible outcomes and the best approach for restoration.
Comments Adrian, “Our clients find that invaluable. We’re the material experts, whereas the doctors are the clinical experts.”
Often the lab team members are not only material experts but also amateur detectives. One potential scenario: A patient comes into a dental practice with an implant crown that has broken. The doctor doesn’t even know what the implant system is, because the patient doesn’t have any paperwork as it was placed in Serbia 20 years ago.
In such a case, the doctor can X-ray that implant and send the result to Watersedge. The lab has the expertise to identify what the implant system is, determine what restorative components we need, and track them down in order to restore the patient’s implant properly.
What Adrian Enjoys Most About Work at Watersedge
Adrian has no difficulty describing his favourite aspect of working at Watersedge. It’s “the team, to be honest — the camaraderie. In other dental labs, people can get defensive. They don’t want to give away their techniques. We have a different attitude; our technicians are willing to share their skills.
“And we feel that we’re able to rely on each other. Even when the stuff hits the fan, you know that you can trust the technician to your left and the technician to your right. That’s a big part of why we’ve been so successful and why I enjoy coming to work every day.”