The Dental Mindset

Astronauts were sent to earth orbit during the Skylab space flights in 1973 and the manned flights made use of a wide variety of advanced dental equipment to assist the astronauts. Manned space travel during the Skylab missions brought military dentists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA to create a dental component for the in flight medical support system or IMSS. There were three flights during the Skylab missions and each one lasted from 4 to 8 weeks and during this time the dental equipment served a three man crew.

According to one of the military dentists at that time the logic for the equipment was to provide the necessary treatment for all ailments that could be handled on an outpatient basis. Anyone could justify that the equipment did not act in the same way as any do it yourself buddy kit. A one percent risk for dental care requirements for the entire 28 days in space for the three man crews gave justification to the treatment concepts that were developed during the Skylab program. No room is given for any ineffectiveness during work and when there are cases of pulpitis or periodontal abscess the knowledge pertaining to dental risks allowed for early preparations.

Astronauts can equally face less problematic situations when it comes to dental mishaps accumulating total risks of five percent. The dental equipment for the IMSS includes tooth removal forceps, elevator, local anesthetic with syringe, periodontal curette, restorative material applicator, file, battery powered light source with mirror, selvage gauze, Gigli saw, and temporary restorative material. When it comes to the Air Force den corps they were able to contribute much for the IMSS equipment by making specially formulated restoration material that met in flight specifications. Astronauts could easily mix the material with or without gravity.

With regard to the effectiveness of the dental equipment the people at NASA resorted to much product testing as well as conducted intensive training programs for the people who will make use of the equipment. In the training programs the flight crews were taught to handle different dental problems up to the point where procedures are as complex as removing a tooth. Illustrations of the oral cavity from personal radiographs, diagnosis information, as well as procedural guidelines will be integrated into a dental manual that will be placed on the space vehicle.

Should the need for professional dental services arise then mission control will provide a dentist equipped with all the necessary materials from oral casts to periapical radiographs as well as colored photos of the crew's oral structures. Dentists working in ground control have the responsibility of approving or rejecting requests for dental procedures to be done on space vehicles and so constant space to ground communication is a must.

There are always two sides to things and for non dentists doing dental procedures there is still that group of people who may be involved with the program but does not support every aspect of the mission. Even if one of the crew members experiences much pain they may not be given much sympathy for their agonizing ordeal when a space mission is threatened especially when the people lose millions in the process. Considering every aspect with regard to dental procedures in space these will only serve as a last resort for the astronauts.

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