TECH’S EYE VIEW
We get nosey with Andrea Johnson, who gives us a tour of her very organised desk Leave a comment
Welcome to a small snippet of my lab and lab life. I like my life to be fairly organised both at home and work. Everything has its place and, in my mind at least, it’s a logical and efficient placement. I know that I can find what I need without hunting for it. I am also a strong believer in looking after my materials and equipment too. I mean, most of us do not have the luxury of having two of everything and there is not much I can live without for long and still do my job properly so woe betide anyone who messes with my stuff.
Starting from the left-hand side of the pic you will see my precious Biostar. It is an amazing piece of kit and any other pressure former or vacuum former just feels like a step back in time in comparison. In a world where more and more of orthodontics is moving over to pressure formed appliances you need a reliable and effective piece of kit. Next is my Erikson model jig, that gets a lot of use for all my osteotomy cases. In the corner is a small fume extractor, I have to be honest I never use it as it’s pretty ineffective so I just open the window and work near to it.
One of my most useful personal buys is the blue storage unit on my bench. I bought it from B&Q and it has quite a lot of drawers in it which are perfect for storing my tools, in it, which are perfect for storing my tools, spare burs and any other small bits and bobs such as ball clasps, etc. Another useful and cheap piece of kit is my wax pot. It’s actually a Glade wax melt for scented candles but it’s perfect for keeping my wax fluid all day ready, I also have a no flame induction heater that is so much better than a bunsen safety wise but also because it heats my tools up so much quicker and I am impatient. I do have a hand flamer for the odd occasions I need a naked flame for soldering or smoothing wax.
My digital radio and speaker system help keep me sane as I work alone for the most part. I listen to Absolute Radio in the morning but by the afternoon that usually is doing my head in so I hook up my laptop to the speakers and chuck on some Spotify playlists I can sing along too.
Finally, speaking of music, Simon Whitehouse of Elite Orthodontics has very kindly used his immense talents as a singer to record a CD of 20 tracks, all chosen by techs on the Dental Technicians Great Britain Facebook page to raise funds for my charity Den-Tech and our Vets Bite Back project. These CDs are now available to order at a cost of £10 each plus £1 P&P or you can buy a download version too. So, if you would also like a copy, please do get in touch with him and order a copy or two!
