THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Health Minister KK Shailaja inaugurated the nation’s first dental lab in the government sector at Pulayanarkotta here on Tuesday. The lab that comes under the Department of Conservative Dentistry, of the Government Dental College, Thiruvananthapuram, has been set up by renovating a building adjacent to the Chest Diseases Hospital. With the commissioning of the lab, the health department will no longer have to depend on private institutions for making artificial teeth. The other advantage is that students won’t have to depend on private players for lab works including dental bridge, dental crown, inlay and outlay procedures.