JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Technology and innovation are focal points for the 673d Dental Squadron at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Hospital.
By implementing a three dimensional scanner and a fully digital process, the amount of time required to restore a patient’s teeth can be drastically reduced.
Every active-duty service member must have an annual dental exam to maintain their oral health and be ready for the fight. If it’s determined that a patient needs a crown—an artificial tooth—traditionally, they would go they would go through a lengthy process to make impressions.
The process would begin with the doctor using a molding material to capture an impression of the patient’s mouth. Once the impression made it to the lab, a plaster would be poured into the impression. After it set there would be a stone, three dimensional model to fabricate the tooth with.
This process could take as long as 30 days and require several appointments, depending on the number of teeth needing to be replaced.
Incorporating the CEREC Omnicam three dimensional scanner allows for a shortened procedure and can lead to replacing a tooth in a single day.
The Omnicam can scan the patient’s mouth and create a digital file instantaneously. The digital file can then be used to design and fabricate the tooth and eliminate the need for creating molds.
The scanner and our process improvement have also enabled us to offer our patients tooth-colored crowns as opposed to gold or porcelain crowns.
At times, patients have spent hours in the dental chair and waited a month before dentists could insert final restoration.
Capitalizing on the growing technology of the 21st century we have been able to drastically reduce the fabrication time, lessen the number of patient appointments and save the Air Force money—putting our Airman back into the field to defend the northern hemisphere.