U.S Army Dental Corps

When I joined the National Guard to help pay for my undergraduate degree, I hadn’t made any definite plans to pursue an Army career. That decision evolved later on.

As a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Dental Corps, one of the things I have enjoyed is the diversity of career opportunities available in the Army.  In private practice you have options to work in several different settings - group practice, solo practice, associate, partner, managed dental company, education, etc...  But, if you want to change from one of these to another it requires you to relocate, affects your salary or requires a financial investment from you into your new venture.  In the Army we have many of the same options, but changing from one type to another does not affect us financially. 

U.S. Army Dental Corps Soldiers have opportunities to work in education, research, administration, policy, group practice, and dental professional leadership.  We can be assigned in almost any region of the United States as well as many locations overseas.  Dental Corps Soldiers can specialize in all the traditional specialties and can change between different career tracks (clinical vs. education vs. leadership).


Because of the diversity of our patients and the ever changing patient population, we have a chance to see some pretty interesting cases and to do some pretty cool procedures.

Half joking I tell people that the military is perfect for someone having a mid-life crisis.  If you have felt that your life or career is getting stagnant, there are always new opportunities for you within the Army.  Ultimately U.S. Dental Corps Soldiers get to help the men and women who serve our nation.
You can get more information at GoArmy.com or Army Strong Stories, the U.S. Army’s premier Soldier Blog.

Lieutenant Colonel Kendall Mower is a dentist in the U.S. Army Dental Corps, currently based in Ft. Myer, Va. LTC Mower is a frequent contributor to Army Strong Stories where he blogs about Soldier life and his career in the U.S. Army Dental Corps. More from LTC Mower on Army Strong Stories.

Jamaica Humanitarian Dental Mission Trip 2013


"Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time" - Marian Edelman

I had the wonderful opportunity to serve some of the under-served communities in my home country, Jamaica last summer. A group of 6 individuals from my school, Howard University teamed up with individuals from Southern Illinois University to deliver dental care to some remote areas in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Our team included not only dental students, but dental hygienists, pharmacy students and dentists.

We provided care for individuals in the town of Flankers, Cambridge and Kew Park, all located in the Parish of St. James (city: Montego Bay). Our trip lasted approximately 7 days and was filled with lots of hard work, fun, sun, beach, great weather and laughter!

Enjoy a few snapshots of the trip below:

The beautiful Island of Jamaica along with flag
The Howard University Team
                         
Extractions, and more extractions!         

Hard at work: Scaling and Root Planing
Working on the last case of the day with a quick photo-op
                             
                                  Me with one of my very happy patients                                         

Hanging with the kiddies during lunch break
                              
After work hanging out with the wood carvers across the street
                            
Refreshments after work RED STRIPE BEER!
                              
Out to dinner
                              
Night on the town in Ironshore, Montego Bay
                              
Red Stripe beer for the win! After work refreshments
                                          
Sun and sand, of course!
                               
Fun in the sun, backflips!
                              
                                Jamaica: beautiful people, sand and beach                                         

Enjoy this slideshow of the Mission Trip. I hope to do it again in 2014!

More Loupes Options

I was contacted to introduce these new and affordable loupes from the company Optiloupe.
Optiloupe is based in the UK and is a company that was started by two dentists who found it important to offer an affordable set of loupes that would improve the quality of work.


 More on Optiloupe:

  • We were established by a team of qualified dentists and dental lecturers to provide high quality optics but at more affordable prices - our premium packages meet the standards of our best competitors but cost half as much!
  • We provide tailored solutions based on research and first-hand understanding of what our clients need from their equipment.
  • We offer a further £100 discount for students and VTs. 
  • We are incorporated into the syllabus of several leading universities around the country where we deliver training on posture, ergonomics and magnification and the students have free use of our loupes during these sessions.
  • We have experience catering for dentists, students and hygienists as well as plastic, vascular and cardiac surgeons.
You may contact them at: info@optiloupe.co.uk

See more posts on Loupes below:
In the Loupe Pt 1
In the Loupe Pt 2
Zoom Optix
My Loupes

Been Looking Forward to 2014 Since 2010!

Happy New Year!!

It is finally 2014 and I could not be any more excited!!! 2014 marks the year that my dental school career/tenure will come to an end. I will finally accomplish my dream/goal of becoming a dentist and life will finally begin. Quite frankly, I've been looking forward to 2014 since 2010!


Looking back at 2013, what I can say is that it has been a year of growth, growing pains, accomplishment and new beginnings. I have learned a great deal, not only about dentistry but about life. It has been a very busy and taxing year (evidence is my lack of blog posts) but I am grateful for all the lessons learned.

Over the next couple weeks I'll do my best to fill in the latter part of 2013 on the blog. Stay tuned and ONWARD to 2014!
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