Our clinic recently acquired a new piece of dental equipment called a cerec machine. It is a piece of equipment that will allow us to make crowns during the same appointment for a patient instead of them having to wait several weeks for the lab to make the crowns. It is CAD/CAM technology (Computer aided design/ computer aided manufacturing). The CAD portion uses blue LED technology to digitally capture images of the teeth and that information is sent to the CAM...read more

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I would just like to thank Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond Chandler for getting rid of the beret. See the following article for more information. Some people couldn't get the link to open. http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/06/army-combat-uniform-patrol-cap-replaces-beret-061311w/ I don't mind the beret when worn with the more formal uniforms - I think it looks much better than the old "teepee hats", but when worn with the ACUs I feel the patrol...read more

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Full time patient care has begun again for me. A lot of people still ask me about the deployment, and my answer is usually, "I did the same thing there that I do here - just in a different location." The only caveat to that is that I don't do any dental cleanings now that I'm back at Ft. Belvoir :) Here are some cases from the past week. Notice the dark area around the root Another case showing some complications that can occur following a...read more

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It's funny that sometimes you have to travel half way around the world to run into people you know. While at COB Speicher I was able to see one of my childhood neighbors Kelly that I hadn't seen in about 15 yrs. Since I had seen him last he had joined the National Guard unit I used to be a part of. I also had the chance to see my cousin during my last week in Iraq. He was commanding a unit in Balad - we hadn't seen each other in a few years....read more

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We had the following letter forwarded to us earlier this month from the Surgeon General. This is incredible for 2 reasons: 1) MG Horoho is a nurse - previous Surgeon General's have all been doctors 2) She will be the first female Surgeon General. Army Medicine Family, "Today is an historic day in Army Medicine. On behalf of the entire Army Medicine Team, it is my pride and pleasure to congratulate MG Patricia Horoho for her selection as our 43rd Army Surgeon...read more

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On May 3 the 257th Dental Company (Area Support) had our TOA (Transfer of Authority) with the 673rd Dental Company in Balad. A TOA is similar to a change of command that you may see at a military base outside of a theater of conflict. The main difference is that one unit is replacing another, whereas with a change of command, the new incoming Commander is replacing the outgoing Commander of the same unit. 257th Dental Company The outgoing Commander and 1st Sergeant...read more

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My last night at COB Speicher we had a USO concert with Toby Keith. It was a great way to remember the base by. Toby Keith's official website also posted pictures of his entire USO tour here. The concert was the largest attended at our base since I had been there, and the weather was great. It was held at the outdoor stadium. American Hero Courtesy of the red, white, and blue The concert was about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. Several of...read more

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There is not much I can complain about with travel out of Iraq. Although I hadn't showered in 48 hours, we lucked out the whole way and had one of the quickest exists from Theater you could expect. We were able to go standby the whole way. It started with a standby flight out of Balad Tuesday night. Fortunately we were able to get out on the 3rd and last flight out even though it was delayed a few hours. It left very early in the morning and we arrived...read more

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The deployment is done. It's just a matter of days before we will be back with our families and in the states, and it's time for reflection. I've asked myself what did I accomplish, what have I learned, how have I grown? I'm not going to have all the answers now. Many will come to light through the days and months to follow. What am I most proud of? That answer is easy. I am proud to have had the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder...read more

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This past week we had the worst sand storm that I had seen since being here. It started out just like a storm cloud moving in. Pretty soon everything was bright orange. I went to the gym to work out, and while I was there I started to see Soldiers walk in covered in dust that's when I knew it was pretty bad. Even inside the hospital visibility was low. When I finally got back to my room and showered I felt like I washed off 1/2...read more

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