In 1973 the Skylab space travels began marking the start of manned space flights into earth orbit and during this time the astronauts relied on different modern dental equipment as they proceeded with their journey. Adequate dental care became part of the in flight medical support system or IMSS developed by the military dentists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA mainly for the Skylab missions. The Skylab space travels yielded three flights each one lasting from 4 to 8 weeks at a time employing three man crews that had the opportunity to make use of the dental equipment on board. Go to this site for further information on orthodontist sydney.
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. But still the equipment should not be compared with any do it yourself kit or buddy kit kind of solution. The military dentist also argues that any concept for medical care at that time were based on findings that yielded results of a possible one percent risk for dental problems to occur during the mission lasting for 28 days. Only serious dental problems are involved when the one percent dental risk is considered especially when problems such as pulpitis or periodontal abscess cause a crew member to be inefficient in his work.
For minor dental problems like chipped teeth and the like the risk is at five percent per trip. A person who reads this article will be introduced to the IMSS dental equipment which made use of different tools for dental treatment in space like periodontal curettes, Gigli saws, and removal forceps. Much effort came from the Air Force den corps as they developed a special formula for the restorative material provided to the space travelers. It can be mixed in a zero G environment.
Knowing how to use the equipment is as important as the equipment being able to pass the testing process of NASA so other than a series of rigorous testing they also conducted intensive training programs for the flight crews. No program attempted to train the flight crews regarding dental procedures which come to be more complicated than removing teeth making the sessions a tad limited. Other than the training programs a manual will be provided for the space vehicle to serve as a guide for all crew members and this manual will have detailed instructions on procedures, information on diagnosis, and images sourced from personal radiographs illustrating each one’s oral structure. Visit this site for further information on sydney invisalign.
In mission control, a dentist will be available with diagnostic casts, complete periapical and panoramic radiographs, color photos of each astronaut’s mouth, complete records of each astronaut’s dental status, plus narrative summaries of all dental treatment provided the astronauts since 1966. The major requirement for any dental procedure to be done on a space vehicle is to have the approval of an on ground dental officer and so constant communication is necessary between the astronauts and ground control.
Although it seems as if they will need to gamble on the skills of the non dentists to safely perform dental procedures in space there is still much practicality in providing the necessary training and some people fail to consider this aspect. When something can lead to the downfall of a space mission then there should definitely be much consideration especially when the excruciating dental pain experienced by a crew member causes him to jeopardize everything resulting to millions in financial losses. With much on the line the possibility of doing a dental procedure in space is reverted to the status of a backup plan.
