Case Study: Helm Dental Laboratory achieves faster, more consistent digital dental production and reduced downtime with Carbon

Big picture strategies to help you grow your dental business

Helm Dental Laboratory, a Wylie, Texas dental lab led by Kurtis Helm, faced rapid technology shifts, high equipment downtime costs, inconsistent part quality, and difficulty hiring trained technicians. To address rising total cost of ownership and workflow inefficiencies, Helm evaluated new digital solutions and adopted Carbon’s 3D printing technology and Carbon DLS™ process under Carbon’s subscription model.

Carbon provided dependable printers, continuous predictive maintenance, and responsive support, enabling Helm to standardize production and scale digitally. Using Carbon, Helm produces surgical guides 18× faster (six guides per hour versus one guide in three hours previously), reduced bench staffing needs (from about 40 analog technicians to a team of 12), and avoided costly unplanned downtime and service bills like the ~$35,000 loss experienced with a prior printer—delivering consistent parts, faster turnaround, and clearer true cost per case.

Helm Dental Laboratory

Kurtis Helm

Owner and Founder