Many students in the Dental Assistant program at Ross Medical Education Center dream of working in a typical dental office. However, some of them consider something slightly different and look into the possibility of working in a dental lab. Recently, the Dental Assistant students at Ross in Cincinnati, Ohio got the chance to visit local Greater Cincinnati Dental Lab. They enjoyed some of the first-hand experiences they gained their and several even shared that they were thinking a lab may be a perfect place for them.
Greater Cincinnati Dental Lab was opened in 1961 and is well known in the Cincinnati area as a place to find dental lab excellence. “I am in my last mod, and we are doing impressions,” Alexis French, a Dental Assistant student currently completing her final module, shared. “It’s exciting to see the different impressions of teeth from others.” She was very excited for the opportunity that her class got when they were invited to the dental lab to see how impressions, crowns, and implants are actually fabricated.
She shared that the lab was unlike anything that she expected, “I thought that the dental lab simply make fake teeth, polish them, and send them back to the dental office.” However, she and her classmates soon discovered that there is so much more that goes on in the dental lab! Within the lab, there are different departments that all work together to create and perfect the products that are made for patients. They got to see that some departments handled just trimming the impression models while other departments handled customizing crown/bridges and implants.
During their time, one of the lab instructors showed the class a three dimensional model of the cusp and gingival margins to seat the crown. Some of the students were able to get a tooth shaded, and they enjoyed the process and seeing the radiation on their teeth. This digital shade helps to create a natural looking tooth for an implant. Through this technology, they are able to create a tooth that looks more similar to the patient’s real teeth. Alexis and her classmates really enjoyed their visit and she even shared, “the experience was fun and exciting and I would love to go again or even work in a lab someday.”