Q: Where are my Lava™ Design Software 4.0 files?

A: Don’t worry, they’re still there.

Recently 3M ESPE released its new Lava™ Scan ST Design System Software 5.0. How that affects you and your lab depends on whether your lab upgraded to the new software.

Section of Lava Package Column from Case Manager

If your lab upgraded to Lava Design Software 5.0, the “lava4” part of the Lava Package name will be replaced with “lava5.” You will still be able to access already downloaded 4.0 files, but all future files will be designated as Lava Design Software 5.0 files.

If your lab has not upgraded to Lava Design Software 5.0, you will still be able to see and access your Lava Design Software 4.0 design files, of course, but you will not be able to access Lava Design Software 5.0 cases.

New Lava™ Lab Software 2.6 for Chairside Oral Scanner

Lava™ Lab Software 2.6 for Chairside Oral Scanner is now available for Lava™-certified labs. The improvements include:

--Visual indication of the location of the articulator hinge
--New shortcuts to make positioning the model quicker and easier
--Reset Zoom tool to make the size of the articulator and model fit the view
--Request Assistance menu choices to email trailer, request make-it-work help
--More flexibility when searching for cases


For more details, see What's New in Lava™ Lab Software 2.6 for Chairside Oral Scanner.

You can also refer to the User Manual for Lava™ Lab Software 2.6 for Chairside Oral Scanner, which is available as a PDF file on the new software, or contact Customer Support.

The Past, Present and Future of Margin Marking

Thank you to Jeff Saylors for his candid comments on outsourced margin marking for Lava C.O.S. cases.

With the holidays, and the arrival of a New Year, it seems like a good time to review where we've been and where we are going with margin marking.

The Past
When we first launched the Lava C.O.S. at the end of 2007, we required doctors to work with trained and certified margin marking Partner Labs. We recognize that the doctor/lab relationship is the cornerstone to building a successful restoration. Our initial lab business model required doctors to either change labs, labs to make a significant investment in the margin marking computer and software, or precluded doctors from purchasing the C.O.S. We knew we needed to make a change.

The Present
In 2008, we launched the Affiliate Lab model. This allows labs to receive Lava C.O.S. cases without investing in the Lava C.O.S. Lab Software. It required labs to outsource the margin marking to an approved Margin Marking Outsourcing Provider. These were labs with extensive experience marking their doctor's margins. The advantage to this model was that it maintained the doctor/lab relationship. However, margin marking for a doctor that you are not familiar with can be a challenge as Jeff noted. Some of our outsourcing providers have found that margin marking helps them build relationships with new labs and can help drive other outsourcing. For many of our affiliate labs and their doctors, this process works. For others, this process has gaps and we know that we need to continue to strive for better.

The Future
The ideal scenario from my perspective is to enable any lab (or doctor) that would like to mark margins the ability to do so. In addition, we would like to enable margin markers to be more self sufficient with regard to hole filling and other data clean up. We have a few challenges to overcome but we are looking forward to some exciting new releases next year to help make these changes.

Thanks for a great year! Thanks also for your great feedback on the lab software. If you have thoughts or concerns, please let us know either by posting on our blog or contacting us directly.

Shana Cooper, Senior Product Manager, Lab Products

Digital Margin Marking

Here's a quick overview of how to margin mark a C.O.S. case:

Labs: Update to the Lab Software for the the Lava C.O.S. Coming Soon

This minor update contains a few new features:

Lava™ Design View Manipulation Controls
If you have been used to using the Lava™ Design software to rotate, pan, and zoom your models, you will be happy to know that you can use the same controls now in the C.O.S. Laboratory software. Just tap the SPACEBAR key on your keyboard and you can use the mouse to manipulate the 3D scan data:
• Left mouse button = Rotate model
• Right mouse button = Pan model
• Middle mouse button = Zoom model

When you are finished with your view manipulations, just tap the SPACEBAR key again to return to the normal edit mode. Note that all of the previous ways to manipulate the model still work.

Email Trainer
We now provide a way to directly E-Mail a laboratory trainer that can help you with your margin-marking questions. Just choose File -> Request Assistance -> Email trainer.

If you are in the margin-marking step of the software, you will be able to annotate and attach pictures to your E-Mail. If you are in the Bite Plane or Die-Cut steps, then you will just be prompted to type a note.

Request Digital File Clean Up
This is the command formerly known as Request Analysis and is used to submit your case to 3M to correct field or scan issues from the doctor (as applicable). Just choose File -> Request Assistance -> Request Digital File Clean Up, and the case will be sent to a 3M technician for review and correction. Please include a descriptive note of the problem area to expedite the process.

This update will be rolled out over the weekend. For guidelines on how this update will work click here.

Labs: Upgrading the Laboratory Software for Lava C.O.S.

3M will be upgrading all installations of the C.O.S. Laboratory Software. The software will handle most of the work for you, but there are some things you will need to do.

1. You will see a dialog appear asking if you want to download the new version of the software. Click Yes.2. You will see the download progress bar move until the download is complete. Then the Run Update button will become available. Click that button.
3. The software will warn you that the upgrade process will require shutting down the application. If you need to save your work, click No and save first. Otherwise, click Yes to begin the installation immediately.4. The software will shut down, and the installation process will begin. Click the Next button 3 times to begin the installation.
6. Double-click the shortcut on your Desktop for the 3M ESPE Lava(tm) C.O.S. Laboratory Software. You should now see that the software version is 2.5.1 on the login screen. Your update is complete!

If you run into any problems during this update process, feel free to contact customer support at 1-877-722-6528.

3M Announces the 1st Lava C.O.S. Lab User Group Meeting

We will be holding the 1st Lava C.O.S. Lab User Group Meeting in Lexington, MA on November 6th. Below is the preliminary schedule. Click here to register. Space is limited.

Labs: Lava Enables Full Contour Crown Design

Lava Design Software 5.0 enables you to design a full contour crown. The software automatically cuts back the full contour to produce an anatomically-shaped coping. This creates an ideal foundation to properly support porcelain work—whether it’s made with hand-layered porcelain, pressed ceramics or the new CAD/CAM produced porcelain, the Lava DVS, scheduled for release later this year.

For more information about Lava, click here

To use this for Lava C.O.S. cases simply select the lava5_ULDC.exe file in Case Manager, then open Lava Design and you will be presented with a dialogue box that will allow you to select a variety of materials.

If you have trouble, try restarting your machine. If you still have trouble, give us a call and we'll be happy to help!

Lava Design Support
HELP LINE: 800-292-6298 (Option 3, then Option 1)
EMAIL: uslavasupport@mmm.com

Lava C.O.S. Support
HELP LINE: 877-SCAN-LAVA (877-722-6528)
EMAIL: cossupport@mmm.com

Labs: How to Margin Mark Veneer Cases

Veneers were recently released as an approved indication for Lava C.O.S. scans. The Lava C.O.S. Lab Software supports this by enabling partial ditching through the margin ranges tool. Here's a quick review of this feature:



If you have any trouble with this feature or others, please contact Customer Service and Support. Phone: 877-SCAN-LAVA E-Mail: COSsupport@mmm.com

Labs: Lava Lab Software 2.5 for Chairside Oral Scanner

We are currently in the process of rolling out the latest version of the Lava Lab Software for Chairside Oral Scanner. Our objective with this release was to make margin marking faster and easier. The key features in this release are:

Margin Assist: Place three points on the edge of the margin and then drag the mouse around the edge of margin. The software will place points based on your movements. It will also alternate the color of the points based on the confidence in that point. It is important that you still review the points.

Margin Review: We've tried to make the review process easier by enabling you to click around each point on the model.

The initial feedback has been very positive. Here's an excerpt from Saylor's Dental Laboratory's blog who recently received the update:

The folks at Brontes recently updated the margin marking process for the Lava COS Laboratory software, and - as far as I'm concerned - they hit the ball out of the park!

- Jeff Saylors

For more information, please take a look at the new features video:

Click here to see the entire article.