32 AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST

ANNIVERSARY

Celebrating Adec’s 50th anniversary

Hand assembly of electrical components in A-dec’s Newberg, Oregon USA production facility.

The ‘skeletons’ of A-dec 500 patient chair ready for final upholstery and assembly in A-dec’s Newberg Oregon USA production facility. Hand assembly of an A-dec 500 patient chair in

A-dec’s Newberg Oregon USA production facility.

The original Quonset hut inside which Ken Austin started the Austin Dental Equipment Company (A-dec) in the 1960’s and started manufacturing dental equipment which would revolutionise the practice of dentistry.

Ken and Joan Austin’s Quonset hut office/workshop circa 1965 remains like a time capsule. Pictured are the old Burroughs adding machine and Rolodex address book. The desk calendar still reads January 1965.

Ken Austin’s original lathes and band saw inside the Quonset hut where manufacturing

of A-dec equipment began in earnest.

A-dec has grown from a modest husband and wife operation to now employ over 1,000 people in 100 countries.

Ken Austin’s Air Vacuum System (AVS) (shown in its travel case) revolutionised suction systems used in dentistry and kick-started his career as one of the world’s great dental equipment manufacturers.