JUNEAU — The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) announced that Bridget Willet, DDS, has joined the dental provider staff at the SEARHC Juneau Dental Clinic as the consortium’s staff prosthodontist.

Dr. Willet specializes in the placement of crowns, bridges and dentures. She will be based in Juneau, but will provide services in other SEARHC communities as needed.

“SEARHC is excited to welcome Dr. Willet to the dental staff,” said Dr. Tom Bornstein, DDS, SEARHC Director of Dental Services. “She comes to our program highly recommended. Dr. Willet brings with her an extensive knowledge about the most current techniques for restoring a dentition to function and esthetics after a tooth or teeth have been lost due to trauma or decay. She is in the process of pursuing board certification in her specialty. We are very pleased to have someone of her caliber working with us.”

Dr. Willet earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of South Carolina, a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Maryland Dental School, and she earned a specialty certificate in prosthodontics and is eligible for a Master’s of Dental Science degree (pending the defense of her research thesis) from the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Willet graduated Magna Cum Laude (with highest honors) for her DDS and BS degrees. She is a Phi Chapter member of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Honorary Dental Society, and she won the American College of Prosthodontics Achievement Award, and the American Academy of Dental Practice Administration and the Organizations of Teachers Dental Practice Administration Award.

It was while she was completing her prosthodontics residency at the University of Connecticut that she was invited to join the June 2011 annual trip of prosthodontists and their students to the SEARHC Dental Clinic in Sitka, where she worked as laboratory technician fabricating dentures and surgical guides to be used during the placement of dental implants to retain lower dentures. She also served as a clinical and preclinical prosthodontics instructor for predoctoral dental students during her prosthodontics residency at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Willet is certified for general dentistry by the National Dental Board and the Northeast Regional Board. She successfully passed the first part of the certification exam from the American Board of Prosthodontics, and will take the second part of the exam next year.

“I am thrilled to be a part of the SEARHC community,” Dr. Willet said. “It is very clear to me that SEARHC is an organization with high ethical and moral values. I feel that all of the providers, employees and staff are here because they genuinely care about the well-being of our patients and their access to health care. I am very pleased to have been given this opportunity to work for SEARHC and be a part of a group that is dedicated to the continuous improvement of our patients’ quality of life.”

Dr. Willet’s medical interests include dental implants, oral rehabilitation, esthetics, speech, thermoplastic resin materials and maxillofacial prosthodontics. She enjoys experiencing Alaska, music, art and snowboarding.