An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but what about the dentist?
One dental clinic on Fort Bliss is fighting tooth and drill to keep Soldiers out of the dentist office by reducing the number of times Soldiers need to visit.
Instead of requiring Soldiers to make multiple visits throughout the year, which happens quite frequently, Soldiers can have all their dental work done at once and not have to come back for up to 12 months, by visiting Chambers Dental Clinic, Fort Bliss, Texas.
The new procedures implemented by the Soldiers and staff of Chambers, the largest single-story dental clinic in the Army, aim to make dentist trips a one-stop-shop. They do this by adding extra time into each appointment and providing an abundance of equipment for different procedures.
"We're doing everything we can to ensure these Soldiers don't have to worry about their teeth," said Staff Sgt. Nathaniel G. Aker, the dental readiness noncommissioned officer-in-charge for the clinic. "We want Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division to be dentally fit to fight."
Not only does the clinic reduce the number of visits per year, but it also cuts down on wait time during the actual appointment, said Aker. The 64 dental chairs, 26 dentists and 119 personnel at the clinic can clear out an entire waiting room in an hour and treat more than 68,000 active duty, reserve and National Guard Soldiers per year.
"For someone who doesn't see behind the scenes, and just comes in and sees all the people, it just looks like chaos," said Pfc. Tyler S. Tubbs, a dental specialist at the clinic. "It's actually a very smooth process. It's really more like controlled chaos."
While many of the innovative practices, such as one-stop-shop dental work, at Chambers Dental Clinic may not be present elsewhere, Soldiers can look forward to seeing improved dental service such as this in clinics across the Army.
Chambers acts as an example for the entire Army Dental Command, and is the test site for many improvements used throughout the force, said Col. Scott Matzenbacher, the Fort Bliss Dental Activity commander.
"We are the tip of the spear," said Matzenbacher. "We are a model for the Army, and in my opinion we should be the model. This clinic sees more patients than any other clinic in the Army. If you are a Soldier and you need to have dental care, just make an appointment and come in, we'll take care of you."
To make an appointment at Chamber Dental Clinic call 915-744-6083.
Social Sharing