Chicago LMT show

LMT LAB DAY® CHICAGO

By Ashley Byrne I Byrnes Dental Laboratory and Editorial Board Member

For many years I had heard the legends of the ‘Chicago Midwinter’ conference, held each February in the USA. It wasn’t until 2015 that I would take the plunge and see it for myself. Weirdly, the US dental market is very different to ours and sadly, the technical and clinical shows are in separate locations, so the ‘Chicago Midwinter’ I knew of is actually just for dentists. Technicians need to book onto the LMT LAB DAY® Chicago, which is run by

LMT Communications Inc., publishers of LMT - Lab Management Today - magazine in the US.

I’ve been going for seven years now, and it is my go-to conference. I prefer it over anything else, including IDS. 100’s of lectures, an incredible trade show, and some of the most amazing people you could ever meet - all in one incredible city.

Sadly, cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, LAB DAY® returned this year with only a mask mandate (although there was a vaccine mandate across the City of Chicago). I was thrilled to be heading to the show, an open show with face-to-face contact! We arrived a few days early to get ourselves used to the time change and acclimatise - Chicago is cold, really cold. We landed in -5C with a windchill of -10C and believe me, if you are not wrapped up well, it chills to your bones. My favourite run takes in the Riverwalk, then alongside Lake Michigan and back through Millennium Park – it’s beautiful and exhilarating but be prepared to have frozen eyebrows and ears.

LAB DAY® runs from Thursday to Saturday and this year delivered a fantastic line up of 200+ lectures and a ton of product launches. Industry leaders like 3Shape and exocad use LAB DAY® to show off the latest CAD advances and sneak peaks of what is coming in the following year. I saw lectures from dentists, technicians, and sales reps on all sorts of products. This year was dominated by digital dentures and 3D printing, and the US market is way ahead of us on this topic. I spoke to a great guy called Jimmy Stegall who was showing how digital dentistry had revolutionised his lab. His deep Southern drawl and highly entertaining lecture left me itching to get back to the lab and see what we can do. We watched lectures on IOS, milling, 3D printing, business management, software, resins, digital dentures, bar design…. the list goes on and on. If you crave some quality education and lectures, you need to be at LAB DAY® Chicago.

The exhibition hall is also refreshing - let me explain - most exhibitors are using wooden tables instead of expensive stands, enabling incredible 1:1 access to techs, software engineers, and product specialists. Our American colleagues are also delightfully positive and honest. I relish my talks here, with some of the most powerful people in dentistry, and yet you are talking over a wooden table like at a car boot sale. It’s refreshing because it offers all technicians, salespeople, CEO’s, and business owners an opportunity to engage on a level playing field.

Of course, the City of Chicago has an incredible social scene so when the lectures stop and the trade show closes, you could find yourself at a secret Smoked Bourbon cocktail party; or a lively blues bar knocking back a bucket of cold beers with new friends; and let’s not forget the incredible steaks and seafood that Chicago is known for.

Without a doubt, this is the best show in the diary for me. I love it and every February I get excited that I’m booked to go again. If you want to some great lectures, a fantastic tradeshow, and a refreshingly different industry perspective to banter about, then get rugged up and head out to Chicago next February - you’ll enjoy an incredible experience.