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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Yellowknife's only dental lab has saved patients the trouble of having to go out of town for their dental work since it opened last year.

"There was no actual dental laboratory in the NWT," said Jo-Ann Komzak, office manager of Somba K'e Family Dental Clinic. "What was happening was a lot of the dentists up here were sending patients to other labs.

Frederich Komzak is a commercial dental technician at Somba K'e Family Dental. The machine to his right is a computerized milling system that makes crowns and bridges. - Jason Emiry/NNSL photo

Dr. Hazem Kobaisy at Somba K'e Dental started his own dental lab in town. He has a dental technician to do all of the work and saves people the time it would take to get their dental work done out of town. Patients can have their dentures and partials made in Yellowknife.

A dental technician makes dentures, orthodontic appliances, crowns and bridges. They work with gold, precious metals, dental porcelain and acrylics to make custom fits to meet a patient's exact needs.

Kobaisy recruited Frederich Komzak last year from Edmonton.

"He made me an offer I couldn't refuse," said Frederich Komzak. "We love Yellowknife. We have made many friends here. We plan to make this our home. We enjoy the hunting and fishing up here. We even started ice fishing."

Service is fast. Patients come in the morning and have their work done by the afternoon.

"We can do them in one day. It's been quite good, it's been quite successful," said Jo-Ann Komzak.

"We get a lot of people who come in with broken partials or dentures and they want them fixed. People walk around and come back and we can have them ready the same day."

Even though they are artificial, the teeth feel very real.

"People like the service," said Frederich Komzak. "They say their new teeth are like their old ones. They can eat anything."

The dental technician said people from across the North come to use his services.

"People learn about me through word of mouth," said Komzak. "I am really proud of my work. It is precise and accurate. It is great to offer this service to the community."