Most guides to this question are published by companies that sell one line of machines, and they tend to arrive at the answer that line supports. We carry DEPRAG, UP3D, imes-icore and BSM, so we can give the version that does not have a predetermined conclusion.
What each process is actually for
Dry milling suits zirconia, PMMA and wax. No coolant, no water management, simpler extraction requirement, faster changeover. It requires serious dust extraction, because the dust is the byproduct and it is abrasive.
Wet milling suits glass ceramics, composite blocks, titanium and anything where heat at the cutting edge would damage the material or the tool. It needs a tank, coolant management and periodic cleaning, and it produces slurry rather than dust.
Where labs get it wrong
The most common mistake is buying a single machine to do both because it looks cheaper, then running it predominantly in one mode. A combination unit that spends 90% of its life dry milling zirconia has paid for wet capability that sits idle, and it carries the maintenance burden of a wet system regardless.
The opposite mistake is buying two machines when case volume does not justify two. A mill that runs 2 hours a day is expensive floor space.
The question that actually decides it
Pull 3 months of production and split it by material. If more than roughly 85% falls into one process, buy the dedicated machine for that process and outsource or hand finish the remainder. If the split is genuinely mixed, a combination unit is the right purchase and the maintenance is the price of the flexibility.
Do this with real case data, not with the material mix you intend to have.
What changes above 5 axis
Axis count is a separate decision from wet or dry. 5 axis is what allows undercuts and angled screw channels. If implant work is in your mix now or within the year, that is not optional regardless of which process you choose.
The DEPRAG W5 PRO is a wet and dry 5 axis platform with a 2.5 kW spindle, integrated water cooling with tank and cabinet, self calibration and remote diagnostics, running zirconia, PMMA, wax, glass ceramic and metal on one machine. It is build to order.
Doing the case-mix analysis properly
Export 3 months of production. Tag every case by the material it was milled from, then group into dry-suitable and wet-required. Count units, not jobs, because a 14-unit arch is not equivalent to a single crown.
The output is a percentage. Above roughly 85% in one process, buy the dedicated machine for that process. Between 60% and 85%, a combination unit earns its maintenance. Below 60% split, you may genuinely need two machines, and that is a capacity decision as much as a capability one.
Do this with what you milled, not what you intend to mill. Intentions consistently overstate the minority process.
What a combination unit actually costs you
Changeover. Switching a combination machine between wet and dry is not instant — the chamber has to be cleaned, coolant managed, and in some cases the extraction reconfigured. In a lab alternating several times a day, that time is real and it is not on any datasheet.
It also means neither process gets a machine optimised for it. That is the honest trade in exchange for flexibility.
Spindle power and what it buys
Spindle power sets what you can cut and how fast. A 2.5 kW spindle handles metal and titanium; a smaller one is adequate for zirconia and PMMA and will struggle with harder material regardless of the number of axes.
If titanium or premilled abutments are in your plan, that is a spindle specification, not a software one.
The order to decide in
Materials first, which sets wet or dry. Then axis count, which is set by whether you do implant work. Then spindle power, set by your hardest material. Then automation — disc changers and tool changers — which is set by whether you run unattended.
Deciding in any other order tends to produce a machine chosen on a feature you will use twice a year.
Go deeper
Cross-brand comparison: milling units compared for 2026. By brand: DEPRAG, UP3D, imes-icore CORiTEC. Site and services: milling requirements.
Pricing
Request a Quote — 954-874-6325
The DEPRAG W5 PRO milling unit is quoted per configuration — voltage, software, extraction and freight all change the number.