Made to Measure

Not every full-arch case needs to be custom. Every case needs to be customized.

Somewhere along the way, dentistry decided those were the same thing, that the only way to fit a patient was to build every arch from scratch. So from-scratch became the default, and everything that rides with it – more appointments, more chair time, more room to miss – became the accepted price of quality.

Think about how a suit gets made. Off-the-rack fits no one particularly well. Bespoke (cut entirely from raw material for one person) is the right answer for the genuine exception. Made to measure sits between them: a proven pattern, fitted precisely to the individual. That is where most patients belong, and almost none of them are being sent there.

That middle tier is Rapid Arches. Whether the case calls for a denture, an overdenture, or a full-arch fixed restoration, the starting point is a proven arch positioned to fit the patient's face, not a blank slate. A conventional denture can run around five visits; digital might get you to three; this path has as few as two.

Customized, not custom-built.

Dr. Brandon Kofford, the prosthodontist behind the protocol, makes the call on when made-to-measure is right and when bespoke still wins. Dr. James Piper shows what changed in real cases from his own practice. Will Wood moderates from the lab bench, where these arches are actually finished.

Biography

Dr. Kofford is a 2008 graduate of Case Western Reserve University’s School of Dental Medicine.

He completed his Prosthodontics residency with the United States Air Force (USAF) at Lackland Air Force Base, Wilford Hall Medical Center, MacKown Dental Clinic in 2011, as well as earning his master’s degree in biology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

He served 6 years with the USAF and achieved the rank of Major. He has been in private practice in Cary, North Carolina, since 2014. He is a partner in 7 dental practices and a full-service dental laboratory.

In 2018, Dr. Kofford and Charles Rudisill developed the Smart Denture Conversions Separable Fastener technology, which was introduced to the market in 2019.

Biography

After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine in 2004, Dr. Piper proudly entered the United States Air Force (USAF) Dental Corps. He completed a specialized residency in Prosthodontics at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio and concurrently earned a Master of Science from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. A distinguished clinician, he won first place in the inaugural American Prosthodontic Society research competition and achieved Board Certification in November 2007.

After completing his residency in 2007, Dr. Piper joined the Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD-1) teaching staff at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska. There, he mentored recent dental graduates, training them in advanced dental techniques as they entered the USAF Dental Corps. His dedication earned him the 2009 United States Air Force Dental Educator of the Year Award.

In 2011, Dr. Piper returned to San Antonio to complete a Fellowship in Maxillofacial Prosthetics, where he provided complex, multidisciplinary care to wounded warriors, service members, and their families. He remained on staff at the Air Force's only Prosthodontic Residency Program for the remainder of his commission, contributing to research and publishing articles on advanced prosthetic techniques, including:
• “The use of a laser-level paralleling device for the fabrication of a unilateral auricular prosthesis”
• “Novel Magnet-Retained Prosthetic System for Facial Reconstruction”

Dr. Piper is an acclaimed lecturer at both local and national dental conferences. His distinguished career in the Air Force granted him unique access to advanced clinical training, keeping him at the forefront of prosthodontic and surgical innovation. A Board-Certified Prosthodontist, he maintains active memberships in the American Academy of Maxillofacial Prosthetics, the American Board of Prosthodontics, the American Dental Association, and the North Carolina Dental Society. Additionally, he contributes his specialized expertise as a member of a Tumor Board in Winston-Salem, NC.

Will Wood, MS, CDT-TE

Will is a Certified Dental Technician who has built full-arch cases at the bench. Having fabricated the custom, from-scratch arches this webinar reframes, his read on when that work is and isn't necessary carries real weight. As Director of Education at Smart On X, he leads hands-on training for dentists, lab technicians, and clinical teams across full-arch removable and fixed workflows, and brings more than two decades running and transforming dental laboratories, clinics, and postgraduate residency programs, much of it in complex military healthcare. A retired Chief Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force, Will bridges the surgical, prosthetic, and technical disciplines, aligning teams around workflows that hold up in the real world.

Made to Measure: Why Custom Arches Should be the Exception

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MEET THE TAILORS

Dr. Brandon Kofford

DMD, MS, FACP

Dr. James M. Piper II

DMD, MS

Will Wood, MS, CDT-TE