Temple University unveils new digital lab for its dental school
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- High-tech dentistry in North Philadelphia. Temple Dental has a new digital lab aiming to bring the best training and treatment to the community.
Temple Dental is celebrating its 160 anniversary, one of the oldest and largest dental schools in the country.
And now it also has new state-of-the-art equipment.
These are three-dimensional teeth being worked on in Temple's new digital lab simulators giving students hands-on experience and training.
"This actually feels like you're drilling a tooth, so it's amazing," Nile Hodges said.
Dental student Hodges who works with both real and virtual patients says the new technology is a big advantage.
He's especially impressed with how life-like the simulators are.
"You have some tactile sense of what's going on. Just learning from the different angles, it's awesome," Hodges said.
"This is by far one of the most advanced digital labs," Dr. Amid Ismail said.
Dr. Ismail, Dean of the school says some of the technology is like flight simulators using haptic systems that provide virtual feedback.
"It's very advanced technology so pilots learn without flying an airplane and dentists are learning using hepatic units without having an actual physical tooth," Dr. Ismail said.
The Temple dental school takes care of 30,000 patients every year many coming from the North Philadelphia community.
"Our goal is to serve the community very well with advanced technology," Dr. Ismail said.
The 160-year-old school has been a beacon in the community for treating patients many from under-served neighborhoods and educating a growing number of minorities.
"They've been a lifesaver for me," Darlene Chester-Fowler said.
Chester-Fowler who's a retired nurse has been a patient at Temple Dental for years.
"Temple puts out some of the best medical students and dental students absolutely I wouldn't go anywhere else," Chester-Fowler said.
Temple Dental offers the full slate of dental services everything from fillings to implants and root canals.
It graduates 150 students yearly.
