Sculpting those bright smiles

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Nestor Cruz
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AB, Japan --  When Airmen and their families are in need of dental repair for chipped or broken teeth or even in need of replacements for missing teeth, who do they turn to? 

The easy answer would be "the dentist" but that is only half correct. 

Two labs within the 18th Dental Squadron here work behind the scenes, creating miniature masterpieces of sculpted porcelain and metal. The base dental lab, which provides services the Kadena Air Base community, and the area dental lab, which services to 52 different U.S. Pacific Command dental treatment facilities. Both produce a variety of devices designed to maintain the oral health of service members and their dependants in the Pacific. 

These "prostheses" include gold crowns, complete dentures, hard night guards, soft or sport mouth guards and retainers. In addition, the Area Dental Lab specializes in removable partial denture frameworks.

ADL and BDL technicians often work behind the scenes, never seeing the patients who receive the fruits of their labor. 

"We don't see the patients day-to-day," said Master Sgt. Wendell Morris, 18th DS Base Dental Lab NCO-in-charge. "Occasionally we do consultation with a doctor on the color or shape of tooth needing work, but other than that, the doctor does all the business with the patient, taking molds or impression of teeth for us to work with."

"When fabrication is finished, we give [the dental appliance] back to the doctor and the doctor sees their patient for a follow-up appointment," he added. 

While all the work behind the dental appliance can be credited to the lab technicians, the dentist takes full responsibility for the quality of the appliance. 

"Although we make these appliances, the doctor is still ultimately responsible for what our lab technicians make," said Master Sgt. Robert Fox, 18th DS ADL NCO-in-charge. 

Technicians from both labs take great pride in their work, calling it both an art and a science. 

"The biggest challenge is starting from a foundation and building it up, making replacements for what nature gave the patient," said Sergeant Morris. "Each piece we make must meet form, fit, function and aesthetics. It must function properly, not feel bulky and look pretty." 

Another challenge is providing a timely service to military members across all of PACOM. That's where a little inter-lab cooperation goes a long way. Although the two labs serve different customers, they often cross into each other's work center to offer assistance with the day's workload. 

Ultimately the labs strive to provide superior service to customers who will never have the opportunity to thank them, and that's okay. 

"We do our best to get the dental appliances out to our customers as quick as we can," said Tech. Sgt. Thomas Wheeler, 18th DS NCO-in-charge of fixed prosthodontics. "It's our job to promote the oral health of our warfighters and their families."