Ken's pearly whites

9/8/2009

If the folk of Oamaru look good when they smile, it may have something to do with Ken Scott (1950-53).

For the past 50 years, Ken, a dental technician, has been making and fitting dentures since arriving in Oamaru as a 22-year-old, fresh from the Otago University Dental School, and buying a dental laboratory.

In that time, patients’ views on dentures had changed dramatically.

Smiles all round - master craftsman Ken Scott

When Ken first started practising, people had at least one denture by the age of 27 on average.

‘‘Now, that is a lot, lot older,’’ he said, ‘‘because of major improvements in dental care and the aesthetic value of keeping teeth for longer.’’

When he first started as a dental technician, people came for ‘‘false teeth’’. Patients did not see their dentures until they were given them by the dentist. Then, it took quite a few weeks to make and fit dentures. Now, it can take just a day or two.

People did not want just ‘‘false teeth’’; they also wanted them to be atheistically pleasing and appear natural. That had been achieved with major improvements in techniques and materials over the past half century allowing technicians to create dentures that looked like the teeth that had been removed.

The cost had also fallen. When Ken first started, a set of dentures cost the equivalent of two and a-half weeks’ wages. Now, it was about one and a-half weeks’ wages.

Part of his role is replacing dentures because of wear and changes in people’s mouths or when dentures are lost.

He recalled one Christmas when he had three patients wanting replacements — one set lost at sea during a fishing trip and two sets lost while swimming. There was also sometimes a demand for replacements after Christmas celebrations, he said.

Ken was born in Ranfurly and completed five years’ training at the dental school before starting practice in Oamaru on July 1, 1959. He plans to continue his practice, along with taking the same active role in the community he has in the past.

Asked about retirement, he said he hadn’t really thought about it.

‘‘I’m fit and healthy and plan to keep going as long as I can,’’ he said.