IPOH, July 10 ― Behind every beautiful smile ― is probably a dental technologist responsible for the flash of the pearly whites.
One such “expert” is Jimmy Loh Thim Kheun, who has nearly two decades of experience in producing dentures.
Loh, 45, said a dental technologist's work starts from the go-ahead by your friendly neighbourhood dentist.
“Dentists will take an impression of your oral cavity before passing it to us.
When we get the impression, a plaster model of your mouth will be made,” he told Malay Mail.
The model, said Loh, will then be placed on an articulator — a mechanical device used to represent the jaw — so that the technician can attach the chosen teeth with wax.
“The technician will then shape and carve the wax to represent the way your gums would look,” he explained.
Once the dentures are done, it will be placed in a holding device called a flask.
“More plaster is poured in to maintain the shape of the dentures. The flask is then placed in boiling water to melt the wax and any leftover wax is rinsed away,” added Loh.
Once rinsing is done, the technician will break the plaster mold.
“The dentures are then placed in an ultrasonic bath to ensure all remnants of plaster are removed before excess acrylic from the dentures are trimmed and polished,” he said.
Once that is done, the denture is ready to be sent to the dentist for fitting.
Loh said the entire process requires between four and five days for completion.
“The job cannot be hurried or else the dentures will not turn up nice.”
Loh said gone are the days where only senior citizens are fitted with dentures.
“Now we also have young people who are fitted with dentures as they are not satisfied with their original teeth,” he said, adding that accident and oral cancer patients sought dentures.
Despite the advancement of technology, Loh said producing a denture is still very much a process that is dependent on the hands.
“We still need the hands to make a beautiful set of dentures,” he added.
