Technicians keep service members smiling on JBER

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Joshua Garcia
  • JBER PAO
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  All service members visit the dental clinic. Whether for an annual checkup or for a toothache, they are all used to seeing the dentist and dental technician.

But what they don't see are the people who work behind the scenes - the people who aid in creating that perfect smile - the dental lab technicians.

For every crown, denture or veneer that needs to be made for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson's service members, there are dental lab technicians ensuring these items are created to specification.

"Everything deals with measurements and ratios, heat expansion, and knowing how each chemical or metal will react to one another," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Sereena Harmon, a dental lab technician with the 673d Dental Squadron, "We measure in millimeters; in some cases if you're off by .2 millimeters, you have to start completely over."

With specifications being stringent there is a little room for error for the lab technicians. Each prosthesis presents different obstacles for the technicians to overcome.

"(The biggest challenge) is having to start from what a patient is given naturally," said Tech. Sgt. JoAnne Johnson, the lab's non-commissioned officer in charge.

"We're starting from nothing and having to build it up, transform it, and give them something that is beautiful and functions perfectly," she said.

Special cases aside, the services performed by the dental lab are only available to active-duty members of JBER.

The lab creates many different prostheses for their patients, ranging from gold and porcelain crowns to personalized mouth guards for sports protection and night guards to prevent the effects of tooth-grinding.

"We fabricate roughly about 120 appliances or prostheses each month," Harmon said.
These items are not cheap in the civilian world. A quick survey of websites shows that night guards made by a local dentist can cost anywhere from $400 to $800 dollars, and they can take weeks.

"There are cases that come through here that when all is said and done, with surgery and everything, would cost $120,000 on the outside," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Sarah Rauch, a dental lab technician with the 673d DS.

Each prosthesis takes multiple steps, from applying layers upon layers of wax to make a foundation for a crown, to getting a night guard sized just right for a particular patient.

But it only takes the JBER dental lab between five and eight days to create such things.

"In a perfect-world situation, we can make a crown a day." Harmon said. "With the amount of patients we have, though, we allot ourselves a five-to-eight day turnaround, depending on what needs to be fabricated."

The items made by the dental lab not only save service members money, they also aid the members on a mental level as well.

Anyone can become self-conscious about the way they look. The dental lab ensures their smile is always bright.

"I like the fact that we impact people's lives in a positive way," Harmon said.

"I've known a couple of people that needed dental prostheses and it makes their life a lot better being comfortable with their appearance, whether it's because of the veneers that give them that perfect smile or the dentures that lets them chew food again."

The lab technicians said they take great pride and joy in their job.

"It is pretty much the coolest job in the Air Force," Rauch said. "We have 'arts and crafts' hour all day."