Eating excessive amounts of candy, cookies and other desserts could cause someone to make a trip to the dentist.
The dental technicians and other staff members aboard the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., dental clinic try to ensure that trip is as pleasant as possible.
Some members of the dental clinic are trained for any type of procedure - whether it is prosthodontics, which is a branch of dentistry that deals with things like replacement of missing teeth - or endodontics, which deals with diseases of the tooth root and surrounding tissue.
Seaman Erik Bryar, a dental technician with the 13th Dental Company and a Seattle native, explained that he gets about four patients a day on average, but on a good day he can treat treat about seven.
Bryar pointed out that his favorite procedures are standard fillings. They are easy on the patients and are also the most common procedure.
Dental needs differ while on deployment, explained Petty Officer 2nd Class Charles Winter, departmental leading petty officer with the 13th Dental Company and Mercer Island, Wash., native.
“A lot of people underestimate what dental goes through to get the job done, it is not always easy,” Winter said. “When I deployed with dental, there were patients in the chair 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We had a policy that we would not shut down for the day until we had seen every patient. If a convoy comes through, they only have 12 hours on camp, and a patient has dental issues, someone has to see them.”
Mentors monitor the dental technicians to see that they perform successfully and ensure everything is within regulations.
“I have to make sure the people who just check in from school know how to perform all of the procedures and are ready to see patients safely,” said Winter.
Emergencies do not happen for the most part, explained Bryar.
“Usually the worst case scenario is when someone will get a tooth ache and try to ride it out, until it gets infected, or someone will have bad wisdom teeth pains,” said Winter. “Rarely a trauma case will occur when someone in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program will maybe get a boot to the face and have a tooth sticking through their lip.”
The staff at the dental clinic appreciates a patient’s gratitude when everything goes as planned in a procedure, explained Winter.
“Dentistry is a lot of work and sometimes patients are not the most thankful simply because they might be forced to come here,” said Winter. “So the best thing that can happen in a day is when someone says ‘thank you.’”