The Man Behind the Metal: Who creates all those metal appliances?

Second and third generation families come into our office with their young ones starting treatment and often say that back in the day they had…

“one of those spacers” (expander)

or “one of those springy things” (pendulum appliance) 

or better yet, “one of those hydraulic things” (Herbst appliance)

or maybe even “one of those old-school retainers with the metal bar” (Hawley retainer)

You may not have had any of these, but they all serve a purpose in creating and maintaining those smiles when completing treatment. These appliances are also made by essentially one person (and the retainers by his wife, Alice).

His name is John Hemphill and he’s run the Dubuque Orthodontics’ lab for over 40 years now. Dubuque Orthodontic Associates has been open since 1972, about 52 years. Thats A LOT of patients that have stepped foot through those doors. Some of you may have been treated by his brother, Dr. Jim Hemphill, over these years (since retired in 2010). 

When you walk back into our office you see the office staff, then the treatment room staff, as well as the doctors. You never really see the operation going on in the lower level, which houses our lab and the amazing lab techs.

In addition to John Hemphill, Judy Herrig and Molly Horch play major roles in fabricating all of our appliances, including our Invisalign® retainers and clear aligners. Without our lab we wouldn’t be able to serve our patients to the best of our ability.

So if you ever wondered where those orthodontic appliances came from, it was right under your feet the whole time!

As always have a great day–and Happy Birthday, John!

-Dr. E