Albany Tech to show off renovated Dental Assisting lab

ALBANY — Albany Technical College’s Dental Assisting Program will host the ribbon-cutting of a newly renovated lab at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Nathaniel Cross Health Technology Building, Room 103.

Renovations to the lab will be discussed, along with opportunities available in the job market in southwest Georgia for dental assistant graduates. The event will be held virtually and broadcast live on Albany Tech’s YouTube Channel.

The previous lab had four operatories with equipment that became outdated. A new lab was designed several years ago to update the teaching facilities with state-of-the-art equipment. The current practices/uses of modern dentistry were taken into consideration. The lab is now 95% complete, allowing for the best educational experience possible for students in the program.

“The new layout better utilizes the assigned space we have here at Albany Technical College, allowing for functionality and better student learning experiences,” Albany Tech President Anthony Parker said in a news release. “We are extremely proud of the space that has been designed and cannot wait to share it with the community.”

“We started with a vision of the lab and hand drawings, working with the architects creating digital blueprints,” Ivey Spears, chair of Albany Tech’s Dental Assisting Program, said. “The process has taken a while, but we are pleased to say that the Dental Assisting Program now has six fully operational dental operatories with pass-through x-ray units. These changes give the students a real-life work force simulation versus having separate x-ray rooms like before.

A brief description of some of the significant equipment updates made in the six dental operatories through this renovation includes:

♦ A-dec 500 dental chair with a Continental Delivery System and LED dental light;

♦ A-dec 500 operator and assistant stools with backrest;

♦ A-dec Inspire treatment console with 12 o’clock assistants’ instrumentation and 22” monitor;

♦ A-dec Inspire central console with pass-through x-ray units;

♦ A-dec Inspire sterilization center;

♦ 6.6-gallon ultrasonic cleaner;

♦ A Vistapure system;

♦ A Nomad (portable x-ray system);

♦ Reception area with patient seating and reception desk;

♦ Dental lab with 12 student stations and a large island to accommodate 12 students and two mobile instructor tables;

♦ Student lockers.

The total cost for renovations to the Dental Assisting Program, including equipment, was a little more than $1,054,000.

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