Ask any questions to a Navy Dentist!

I have a couple of questions:

1. Did you feel well prepared or confident enough to open up a practice after serving in the military?

still in my first year out of school...ask me in 3 more years.

2. Are you exposed to a variety of cases and have access to the latest technology/instruments? Some dentists I know joked that you will be very proficient in doing extractions in the military and thats about it.

at a big base like Norfolk, i have seen a huge variety in just a few months. (esp. with NATO HQ next door...foreign dentistry is sometimes HI-LARRY-US) we have a CEREC unit, use flexible retainer RPDs, microscopes for endo plus a variety of rotary instrumentation and obturation options, crown & bridge, i have two legit ortho cases going, multi-chair & expanded function assistants experience, implants, perio surgery, you name it...so am i proficient in surgery? you bet, especially with partial bony impactions done with only local. amalgams? also, yes, because a couple of fillings is all most folks need. but is that all ive done? heck no.

3. Do you have to use rubber dams all the time and must do certain procedures or protocols a certain way?

i understand the desire to put the RD away after dental school, but dont...it gets easier with an assistant and they make everything so much neater. obviously, endo must be done with proper isolation, but the long term success of direct restoratives is much greater with good moisture control. frankly, i like putting a bite block in and letting the patient relax while i work without worrying about cheeks, lips, tongues, saliva, etc. sorry, but i dont really understand the second part of the question...are you asking if we take shortcuts because we do 'free' dentistry on patients we may never see again? i hope that you are not.

4. Are you required to do all your own dental lab work?

no, we have a terrific lab just down the p-way from my operatory. you can pour up your own impressions if you are worried about alginate distortion and the lab has each doc trim their own dies so there are no questions about margins. other than that, you dont have to do much more lab work past surveying for RPDs. we have a mini-lab where we can do more if we want to, but nobody forces us to do so.

Thanks in advance
Hope this helps...

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Ask any questions to a Navy Dentist!