gridlore: Doug looking off camera with a grin (Penguin - Carpe)
Douglas Berry ([personal profile] gridlore) wrote2005-06-29 09:47 pm

I made teeth today!

Well, sort of.

I'm settling in at my new job, driving for a very small dental lab (three people total) that makes fake teeth. Most of my day involves going to various dental offices to pick up molds and impressions, and return the forms and finished product. Along with that, I clean the office and lab (not a big problem, since its so small), run errands, and break plaster off forms (which is fun.)

But today, I started learning how to make teeth. We took a set of impressions that the two pros had already finished working with, and R. showed me how to mix the "stone" (we used the slowest setting mix) fill the impression, get the bubbles out, and finally how to grind the finished form down to a usable size. The grinder, by the way, does not discriminate between forms and fingers.

My first effort had no bubbles, thank you very much, and I did a decent enough job grinding. Tomorrow, time permitting, I'm going to learn articulation.

Whatever the hell that is.

Over all, I'm enjoying the job. The only drawback is my boss is a heavy smoker, so the car smells like an ashtray.

[identity profile] sinboy.livejournal.com 2005-06-30 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
Ar tic u lation. That's how to talk, ain't it?

[identity profile] pauldrye.livejournal.com 2005-06-30 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
Or how to move the mouth parts into the places they need to be for talking; similarly, how anything is jointed. I'm not sure which meaning came first. I'd guess Doug's case is getting the teeth to move across one another smoothly, possibly for chewing and fitting together for biting as well as just jointing the top and bottom.

That sounds like a pretty cool job.

[identity profile] hopeforyou.livejournal.com 2005-06-30 05:34 am (UTC)(link)
You really should sing from Little Shop of Horrors while you clean...

[identity profile] sossity.livejournal.com 2005-06-30 06:58 am (UTC)(link)
y'know, if the smell is so horrible, you can always put a smear of mentholatum cream on your upper lip. i guarantee you wouldn't smell the smoky car interior...

[identity profile] hartt-tommel.livejournal.com 2005-06-30 02:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"We make molds of teeth, we make molds of teeth!"* ;-p

-Tom

(*Sung like the chant "We make holes in teeth" - which was used in Crest toothpaste commercials when I was a kid)

[identity profile] magicwoman.livejournal.com 2005-07-01 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Glad to hear you're enjoying the new job!!

Happy early birthday!!

Susan