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Dental clinic face-lift to be complete by mid-June

  • Published
  • By Melissa Morgan
  • 90th Space Wing Public Affairs intern
Although it may look like a mess right now, by the beginning of summer Warren will have a dental clinic worthy of the highest praise. 

The front desk and waiting area are receiving the most renovation. With about 4,000 patients, the waiting area was cramped, and the front desk offered patients almost no privacy. The waiting area modification includes new furniture and a flat-screen television, and the front desk will almost double its former size with oak pillars acting as privacy partitions. 

Another portion of the renovation involves adding a records room. The room will be behind the front desk and can be locked, negating the need to lock the entire clinic to protect the records. 

The clinic is also seeing improvements in technology. New digital X-ray capabilities reduce the amount of radiation patients are exposed to by 75 percent. Digital X-rays are also stored on a computer and can be e-mailed to a patient's next base, eliminating the hassle of moving records from one base to the next. 

Another innovation is computer-aided design and manufacturing, an invention that aids in creating dental crowns. Previously, it could take 21 days to make a crown. With CAD/CAM, pictures of the tooth are sent to Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. The crown is sent back here in about five days. Another benefit is that crowns can be made to look like real teeth, not just gold or silver. 

With the number of doctors in the dental clinic decreasing from five to three this summer, these renovations will improve the efficiency of the clinic in serving the local community.