7/12/2012 - JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas –
A new state-of-the art facility on Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland that is dedicated to training military dentists in advanced specialties and serving as a worldwide referral center has officially opened its doors.
During an early morning outdoor ceremony to avoid the Texas heat, military leaders dedicated the Air Force Post Graduate Dental School and Clinic June 20. More than 200 guests got a full view of the modern $38 million building, the Air Force's flagship dental school, located adjacent to Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center.
The 56,000-square-foot facility, which replaces the aging MacKown Dental Clinic, is known for its Maxillofacial Prosthetics Fellowship program - the art of creating facial prosthetics to help wounded warriors with burns and injuries, cancer and birth defects. It also has the only stereolithography laboratory in the entire Air Force Medical Service, a three-dimensional process that makes prosthetics and implants from a computer image.
"This is a world-class facility," Maj. Gen. Byron Hepburn, 59th Medical Wing commander, said. "Our Airmen, our Soldiers, our Sailors, our Marines and their children and spouses deserve nothing less. It demonstrates our commitment to excellence."
"Most importantly, the professionals who will work here, both active duty and civilian, will deliver high quality, compassionate care to our beneficiaries for many years to come."
The AFPDS has one of the Air Force's largest dental laboratories and produces more than $1 million in annual workload. It has more than 5,000 square feet of laboratory space and 69 dental treatment rooms.
According to Lt. Col Jeffery Casey, Senior Resident Education and Training Program director, the school also trains Army, Navy and Canadian Forces.
"It is the most advanced building for our residency education programs," he added.
"We train 85 percent of dental residents across the Air Force here, with six dental residencies and two fellowship programs within the 59th Dental Group," Col. Steve Taylor, 59th Dental Support Squadron commander, said.
The school is a branch campus of the Uniformed Services of the University Health Sciences, dedicated to maintaining education excellence.