You may be wondering...who shows up for free dental care? Is there a large demand for free dental services? What insights can we glean from this experience regarding the state of America's oral health?
Having volunteered at the MOM Project in both Virginia and Connecticut, I saw a common troubling theme which is this:
People from all walks of life are not receiving adequate dental health care and they are suffering because of it
Cavities and periodontal disease were rampant among many of the patients we saw, illustrating years of oral health neglect and lack of care. These patients had multiple problematic teeth in various states of decay. Over 2,000 patients were treated in two days at the CT MOM Project, and much of this care was urgent and necessary to alleviate patients in chronic pain. The patients I saw crossed all professions - blue collar, white collar, college students, single guys, housewives, children. The patients crossed all education levels and came from scattered areas of CT.
As I filled or extracted each troublesome tooth, I recalled an old Bugs Bunny cartoon I'd seen where Bugs attempted to stop a leak in a large dike by sticking his finger in it. But, to his dismay, as soon as he plugged the first hole a second appeared next to it. Once he plugged the second hole another appeared, and so on and so forth. Unfortunately, while treating these patients, I felt like Bugs with his leaks; though I've solved the immediate problematic tooth there are many other teeth about to cause pain for these patients. Which brings us to the problem -- many of these patients will likely wait another year for a MOM dentist to plug those leaks.
To loosely quote a wise friend of mine - the experience was akin to treating a gunshot wound with a Band-Aid! My efforts are helping the immediate problem (pain) but ultimately the real issues causing these patients' pain (lack of care, inadequate oral health) are not being addressed.
Don't get me wrong, the MOM project does a LOT of good, and I will continue to volunteer for it. However, I doubt anyone volunteering with MOM, seeing patient after patient with mouths destroyed by disease, has any disillusions regarding this project -- it's no secret that our efforts simply buff some scratches out of the rusted jalopy that is America's oral health care system. It's a problem that needs to be fixed on a fundamental level. I am not a policy maker, though, and I admit I do not know where to begin.
A policy maker I am not...a dentist I am. So, one message I can share is this: The most efficient way to fight tooth decay is to prevent it from happening in the first place. To be frank, many of the MOM patients I saw are doing EVERYTHING wrong concerning their oral health. They enjoy their favorite vending machine candy bar with their favorite soda (or Red Bull) on a regular basis, don't brush regularly (if at all), and simply never see a dentist for a check-up.
I'm not standing on my pulpit looking down, though. I understand life is hectic and it's easy to let oral health maintenance fall by the wayside, especially when you don't understand the consequences of your actions. And that's where I feel we need to begin. By making people understand how much value there is in being diligent about their oral health -- by brushing regularly, skipping that soda, and getting regular cleanings -- we would be able to prevent these patients from slipping into a basically untreatable state of oral health.
Prevention programs, in my humble clinical opinion, are the answer. But I'm not a public health expert, and recognize the implementation of these programs is complex, as is positioning them to be successful. There are programs that have made a difference. The Give Kids a Smile program and the work done by South Park Inn in Hartford come to mind. Obviously, more can and should be done. In the meantime, the MOM project will be there, helping thousands of people. I hope a day comes soon where we've found answers to this oral health dilemma that make the MOM project unnecessary.
-DRS
Northford Family Dental
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