Bill Klaproth: This is OMS Voices, an AAOMS podcast. I’m Bill Klaproth, and with me is Dr. Dan Hammer, who is here to discuss his OMS contributions through military service. Dr. Hammer, thank you so much for being here.  

Dr. Dan Hammer: Thanks a lot, Bill. It’s a pleasure to be here.  

Bill Klaproth: It’s a pleasure to talk to you and thank you for your service. This is very cool, and I’m looking forward to hearing more about what you’ve done as an OMS in the military. So, can you give us a brief overview of your career?

Dr. Dan Hammer: Yeah, absolutely. First, how did I get into the Navy? I don’t come from a military family, and I was looking at dental schools and we all know how expensive dental schools are these days. So, I looked for a way to pay for it. I’m not going to lie. I looked at the different branches and it turns out I like being around water. I’m not in the middle of a field too often. So, the Navy was an obvious choice, and I was blessed to be chosen for something called the Health Professional Scholarship Program. The Navy paid completely for my entire dental education, so that at the end of dental school, that’s when I got my commissioning as a Naval officer and went through the Officer Development School in Newport, Rhode Island and kind of did that whole side. During dental school, I was thinking about oral surgery, but I wasn’t a hundred percent convinced. And due to the rigor of the training, I knew I didn’t want to go for it unless I knew a hundred percent. So I did a general practice residency at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. This was in 2011, so we all know what was going on in the world then, both in Iraq and Afghanistan, and unfortunately, we were receiving about 30 to 50 wounded warriors three times a week in Bethesda. The general practice residents actually became the dental service for the wounded warriors because regardless of the injury, you needed a dental exam. So, from that experience, doing all the facial trauma triaging for oral and maxillofacial surgery, pretty much, I knew a hundred percent I was never doing general dentistry again and going to go for OMFS and was lucky enough to apply and get in right away. Then, they stashed me. I spent a year in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, with the Marines doing my Fleet Marine Force time, which is just incredible. Just being in that Marine culture, it was absolutely amazing. And then, went back to Walter Reed for training. During my time, we did a lot of great things, but we also missed the boat with some of our reconstructions due to technology integration. So it inspired me to do fellowship then in Texas with Fayette Williams and J. Rod Kim, and then I’ve landed here in San Diego and have absolutely loved my time. I teach residents. We have 12 residents in our program and it’s just been an absolute wonderful experience.  

Bill Klaproth: So that’s where you are now? You’re stationed in San Diego? 

Dr. Dan Hammer: Yeah, I’m Vice Chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Navy Medical Center San Diego, just down the road. 

Bill Klaproth: That’s great. So you’re also qualified in head and neck oncology and reconstructive surgery, is that right? 

Dr. Dan Hammer: Yeah.

Bill Klaproth: So you’ve done it all. 

Dr. Dan Hammer: Jack of all trades, hopefully a master of something. 

Bill Klaproth: Right. So, when you got into the Navy, did you think, okay, I’m going to do this, I want to spend my time in the Navy, then I’m going to get out and do private practice? Was that your initial thought, and then you got in the Navy and said, you know, I really like this, this is a home for me? 

Dr. Dan Hammer: So, I think a lot of us who start with that four-year commitment, I thought that was forever. Right. And then all of a sudden you’re at the end of that and you’re like, that was a blink of an eye. And one thing the Navy does exceptionally well, or the military in general, is providing educational opportunities. And with those educational opportunities comes more obligation, right? So, between my internship, my residency, my fellowships and everything, I got to that 10, 12, 13-year mark, and it’s been a blink of an eye. So, it was never my plan to get out. It wasn’t my plan to stay in. It’s just kind of like a lot of people, you find the right mentors, they open the opportunities or make you see opportunities that you may not normally have had a vision of. And I’ve just been blessed in that way.

Bill Klaproth: So, what do you think has been the driving force in your career so far? You’re very accomplished at this point. What drives you to do this? 

Dr. Dan Hammer: I think it’s just that experience at Walter Reed. From 2011 to 2017, working on the wounded warriors, and we had some of the most talented surgeons in the world there. We were doing such great work and we inadequately reconstructed so many of our service members. And what I mean by that is, you know, they may have had a huge traumatic defect to their face, but okay, maybe their jaw was put back together, but they didn’t have teeth. They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t swallow, they still had a tracheostomy tube, they had a feeding tube. And they were quote unquote reconstructed. And really, what my mission has now become, to answer your original question, is how do you integrate technology and create protocols to actually restore patients? And we need to stop thinking about reconstruction and think about restoration. So that’s really where my goal is, and the value proposition of healthcare and what that really means. 

Bill Klaproth: So, the driving force is really restoration, not just repair. It’s getting these men and women back to as normal as can be. 

Dr. Dan Hammer: Absolutely, not just physically, you know, unfortunately, I had a lot of very young patients from Iraq and Afghanistan, and there’s a lot of hidden scars and invisible scars from these defects. And I still talk to a lot of the guys I took care of over a decade ago now, and those scars are alive and well. So, it’s not just restoring physically, it’s psychosocial, emotionally, spiritually. The surgery is just a part of it. 

Bill Klaproth: It sounds like it had a real effect on you, seeing these young kids, almost, basically come back from war with these types of injuries. 

Dr. Dan Hammer: Oh, absolutely. 

Bill Klaproth: What was that like seeing that? 

Dr. Dan Hammer: The first thing was a lot of them were younger than me, so that’s pretty eye-opening. And I was going through a huge period of growth, right. I was getting trained. I was achieving a lot of my lifelong quote-unquote goals. And, to be sitting across from a 19-year-old who came from a really tough background and joined the military to make that big leap. And to see them, bedridden and with all those different procedures being done for an extended period of time. I really hated that a lot of them were almost professional patients. You know what I’m saying? Like, where did their identity go? So, if you restore the patient, hopefully, you can restore that purpose and that identity, and they’re not just a professional patient. 

Bill Klaproth: Where did their life go? Or where is their life going? What kind of a life can they have after this? That really had to have an impact on you seeing these people giving so much at such a young age for our country. Wow. So, I know that you’ve been out. Can you tell us about some of your time in an operational setting and what that was like? 

Dr. Dan Hammer: Yeah. So, I’ve been blessed to do two different operational settings, one early in my career was at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, like I mentioned with the Marines, which was quite an adventure. And then, my more Navy traditional side is – it’s very common for oral and maxillofacial surgeons to go on aircraft carriers right after residency. Pretty much you’re guaranteed. So, I was on the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the North Atlantic for a long time and that area of responsibility and the surgical team on an aircraft carrier, for 6, 7,000 people, it’s a general surgeon, an oral surgeon and a CRNA. And that’s it. That’s it. 

Bill Klaproth: For 5,000-plus people. 

Dr. Dan Hammer: And if you add all the other ships around, you’re talking about 30,000 people and that’s your team. So, it’s a pretty huge contingency operation going on. 

Bill Klaproth: And you’re generally talking mainly a lot of young people, probably wisdom teeth and things like that happening. Is that right? 

Dr. Dan Hammer: Yeah. And, uh, it really, the main reason we’re there is kind of threefold, one facial trauma, two, airway. So emergent airways or surgical airways. And then three is, we have our general anesthesia license. So, if you’re in a mass casualty, the CRNA might be doing work with a general surgeon and we would be able to intubate the patient, start the patient’s anesthetic. So, then the general surgeon can come over. So, we’re also the backup anesthesia provider. So we really wear multiple hats on an operational setting as an oral surgeon. 

Bill Klaproth: Were you busy all the time? 

Dr. Dan Hammer: No. I mean, I really was a contingency. So it was mandatory. The ship could not move without their general surgeon, anesthesia provider or an oral surgeon. So we are a hundred percent mandated for that contingency operation. So, I did a lot of cases with the general surgeon. They definitely were a lot more busy than I. But we did have some pretty massive cases. And there’s a reason I was there for contingency. So, took out a couple of wisdom teeth. If there was an infection, but I really tried to do that when we were in port, just to not take that sailor away from their job that is needed to be done when we’re out at sea. 

Bill Klaproth: Really interesting. And what an adventure really. If you think about it, most people they get into the specialty will never spend their life on an aircraft carrier. And generally, they’ll get into some kind of private practice. Really interesting. The career path that you’ve chosen. Are there any other milestones in your career that you can share with us? 

Dr. Dan Hammer: I don’t have a lot of specific milestones. You know, you can talk about finishing training and all those things that are more standard. What I think is the biggest milestone so far is, I arrived in San Diego just over three years ago and we have built an incredible team around maxillofacial restoration. It’s multidisciplinary plastics, ENT, OMFS, general surgery, physical therapy. The list goes on and on and on. And we’ve really built an incredible digital platform that we’re already translating some of the techniques into the civilian sector to kind of have those abilities that, you know, we didn’t have in 2011 to 2017. So, it’s just been really, really exciting to build this platform and to be really involved in education. So, I think the milestone is our team forming around restoration. And then I think hopefully the next milestone is we really can scale and validate the techniques we’ve come up with. 

Bill Klaproth: So, are you leading the innovation then when it comes to OMS? 

Dr. Dan Hammer: So, in this space, I would definitely say our team is among the leaders, and just been really, really exciting with the technology and the operative environment. And our whole thing is readiness and restoration. So, we actually will, full resection of somebody’s lower jaw, transplant part of their leg, do dental implants, 3D-printed teeth, and the fastest I’ve had somebody back to their unit is six weeks postoperatively. And for the military, that’s a big deal, right? Because now you’ve just retained a service member that you normally would’ve lost. Their unit cohesion is maintained, and the warfighter is back in the fight. And they’re no longer a professional patient. So, working on these protocols, working on these techniques, working on this integration is really in my fire. 

Bill Klaproth: It sounds like it’s your mission, really? 

Dr. Dan Hammer: Absolutely. And I found a coalition of the willing to help with that mission. And now they’re leading me in a lot of techniques. 

Bill Klaproth: So how and why would you encourage others to pursue service as you have done? 

Dr. Dan Hammer: I think service, no matter what your background is, where you come from, I think there’s something for giving of yourself or being part of something bigger. I always played team sports growing up. I played college volleyball. So, I think really the military, anybody who’s been on a team sport, thrives in a collaborative environment, I don’t think there’s a better option. That’s what motivates me. You don’t join the military to make a million dollars a year. You don’t join the military to be able to live wherever you want. Somebody tells you where you’re going to live. So really, I encourage people who really like a life of service, find intrinsic value in serving our most valuable resources, which to me is our military members. 

Bill Klaproth: Absolutely. Well, Dr. Hammer, this has been great. Thank you so much for your time. 

Dr. Dan Hammer: No, it’s been my pleasure. Thank you so much. 

Bill Klaproth: We really appreciate it. And once again, that is Dr. Dan Hammer. And for more information and the full podcast library, please visit MyOMS.org. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and don’t forget to subscribe. And thanks for listening.