Van gets dental care through her practice, and her husband has his dental insurance through the Air Force. In addition to her base pay, Capt. Van earns additional and variable specialty pay for having a dental license. Dentists with board certification also earn board specialty pay. The Air Force has been making special efforts to attract and retain dentists and has implemented several bonus programs.
Residencies are available in endodontics, orthodontics, prosthodontics and more.
I really enjoy what I do. There are a wide variety of continuing education opportunities sponsored by Air Force. These allow the dentists to keep current in their field and a certain number of hours are required to retain a license to practice. The Air Force offers short continuing education courses for dentists at the Mackown Clinic. Van has taken one course since starting work in September, a one-week program on oral diagnosing and treatment planning.