Episode 252: Michael Strohecker - The Future Is Printed: 3D Printing in Dental Practices

In this episode of the Stress-Free Dentist Podcast, Dr. Eric Block sits down with Michael Strohecker — co-founder and Chief Growth Officer of LuxCreo, the 3D printing company he started in his Palo Alto garage. Michael is a mechanical engineer and materials scientist by training who spent his early career at McDonnell Douglas on a NASA blended-wing program and then nearly a decade at Space Systems Loral building satellites, including work on Sirius Radio and the XM recovery effort. He has been 3D printing since 1995. When investors from Kleiner Perkins — the original backers of Invisalign — brought him in to evaluate nanotechnology and materials science coming out of Georgia Tech, he saw a real chance to solve problems in dentistry rather than build another me-too printer.

The conversation centers on why hardware alone never solved anything. Accepting a "best 3D printer" award, Michael asked the organizers to delete the category — his single slide read: it takes more than a printer. LuxCreo controls the end-to-end process from materials and hardware through post-processing, CAD/CAM, and one-click print software, and every new hire, dental background or not, has to scan, design, print, and finish an aligner in under three hours. As he puts it, tinkering is a four-letter word. That obsession with repeatability is what makes direct-print aligners and retainers — LuxCreo was first to FDA clearance — practical inside a general practice rather than a science project.

Michael and Dr. Block get into what this actually changes chairside: the "Goldilocks technique" of printing comfort, medium, and tight versions of a splint for about $15 total and letting the patient choose, which drives compliance and referrals; same-visit aligner starts during a hygiene appointment; partial-sale case acceptance that doesn't add another chair visit; and material with active memory that returns to shape in hot water. They also riff on Dr. Block's own concept — ROF, return on fun — which Michael now preaches to his 200-person company. He closes with advice for students and young dentists: roll up your sleeves and learn the digital workflows, because without digital you'll be stuck in the past.