Making A Difference: Baltimore Health Care Professionals Reach Out To Community

Another week begins with a feel good story about health care involving children. Dr. Patricia Bell-McDuffie, the director of Oral Health Services for the Baltimore City Health Department, along with many other medical professionals came together Monday morning at an East Baltimore community center to provide check up and oral health inspections on children. This clinic was intended to help low-income inner-city children improve their dental care. The simplest instructions from “don’t forget to brush every night before you go to bed” really went a long way in helping these children who might be to young to understand the importance of brushing.
At this clinic, doctors were able to notice, through simple examinations, many problems from tooth decay to gum disease which were prevalent in the children. It is hard to discuss the importance of oral health care among children without remembered young Deamonte Driver who died at the age of 12 from a tooth infection. All these programs and clinics, which are happening across the United States, might be because of that young boy. They are in one sense being done in the memory of that young boy who by giving his life might have saved the lives of hundreds or even thousands of children across the world. U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, accused the Bush administration of failing to provide adequate dental care to poor children, and in May introduced "Deamonte's Law," which would increase dental services in community health centers and train more pediatric dentists. "We must protect our children from this sort of needless suffering, and we must begin with the youngest of children," Cummings said this morning at the community center before the examinations got under way. "An untreated tooth infection is far scarier and uncomfortable than the routine care that can prevent it."
It’s a wonderful thing to be able to read about doctors and other health care professionals helping volunteer their time to provide valuable information and life lessons to children which in turn can keep them healthy and alive for many years. Not everybody’s charity work goes noticed but that does not mean people aren’t out there helping children and teaching them about health care. I believe this article should be motivation for anyone who has been educated and knows how to practice health care to go out into their community and teach not only the young but also people of all ages. Going out into the community and providing oral health care for those who are in need is one of the reasons why I want to attend dental school and become a dentist. It is not possible to help everyone at once but by helping one person, they are able to take the same knowledge and hopefully pass it on to others or even tell other that they should attend a free clinic for a check-up or examination. Provide health slowly but surely is better than not providing it at all. Hopefully, for months and years to come we will be reading more articles about good deeds like the one that inspired this post.

The Bill That Never Was: 35 Billion Reasons Why President Bush Made A Mistake

Just when low-income families thought that help was on the way in the form of health insurance coverage, their hope was shot down by a man. The same man who was elected to help this country but has done nothing but hinder the progress of America. Last week, President Bush vetoed a bill to add $35 billion to programs providing health insurance to children of lower-income families. "The policies of the government ought to be to help poor children and to focus on poor children, and the policies of the government ought to be to help people find private insurance, not federal coverage. And that's where the philosophical divide comes in," Bush said.

One man who was openly critical about Presidents Bushs decision to veto the State Children’s Health Insurance Program was, Dean of the USC School of Dentistry, Harold Slavkin (seen below) . Dean Slavkin stated that the veto compromises California’s poorest children, the ones who are most vulnerable in our communities. Diseases surround this country, some to which we have cures and other to which we are yet to find cures for. Tooth decay is the most prevalent disease among children in this country and can be extremely deadly. In Los Angeles County in particular, cavities and oral infections are the number one reason children are missing school. "This bill is crucial for the health of America's children and is a fitting tribute to the memory of Deamonte Driver, the Maryland boy who died earlier this year when his untreated tooth abscess led to a brain infection,” adds Slavkin.

As much as I hate sounding like a broken record, that’s probably what somebody would think of me while reading my recent posts. Every post seems to emphasize the importance of providing health insurance, especially dental insurance to American Citizens. This post is no different. Just when I though that, like Spain did in providing free dental care to all children between the ages of 7 – 15, the United States was going to step up and provide for those who are most in need. Instead, the step taken was in the wrong direction. President Bush was elected to lead this country and work towards positive progress everyday. The only problem I see is a huge problem in itself. President Bush is leading this country in the wrong direction. We had a chance to accomplish something great with the new States Children’s Health Insurance Program but what once seemed like a bright idea for the future is nothing more than a dark moment in the past. By vetoing the bill, President Bush has left the door open for American Citizens to either not seek any kind of care for medical problems which they might have or to seek not only dental care, but also all kinds of health care outside the borders of the United States. The potential outside care which patients in need may receive might not be safe or effective which in turn, could lead to infection, disease or worst of all, death. So, in a way, President Bush has left the door open for our own American citizens to die, all while he could have simply passed a bill which could have made a difference in million of lives. Would have, could have, but simply didn’t.

Dental Care: More Important Than We Think.

One of the top priorities for every American parent is the well being of their children. That well being includes their oral health as well. Dental Care is unattainable to many Americans who in turn, are not able to provide it for their children. So when those same American citizens read about Spain's plan to provide free dental care to all children between the ages of seven to fifteen, they began to wonder why the United States doesn't provide the same for their own children. Last week, Bernat Soria (pictured on the right) announced his new dental care plan, which would include dental treatments such as cleanings, fillings, tooth extractions, and check ups. This program would benefit close to a million children in 2008 and upwards of four million in 2012. Surely, the health minister’s proposal must have made most Spanish parents happy but it did a good job to anger one Spaniard in particular. Spanish minister for the economy, Pedro Solbes was openly critical of the health minter’s plan, stating that it would be too expensive as well as questioning its viability. This may have come as no surprise to the Spanish citizens seeing how Mr. Solbes had shot down countless ideas suggested by the government because of cost reasons. The minister for economy was critical. He was against not only the health minister's new dental care plan but, many other plans which came before.

After coming across this article, questions about our own dental care plan here in the United States began to rise. Seeing how we consider ourselves ahead of other countries, why did we not already have a dental plan, which would provide free dental care to all children? More than money, free health care is probably one of the most important things that the government can provide for families throughout the United States. This would allow parents the freedom to not have to worry about their children’s oral care. It was quite recently when twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver (pictured to the left) died from what most people would call a ‘toothache’. What began with some simple pin in his mouth turned into a severe infection, which eventually worked its way up to the young boy's brain and lead to his eventual death. This one event should have been enough for the United States government to take action. The government should use its money not to keep our troops overseas in Iraq, but to help children back here on our home soil with simple things like the ability to get a cleaning, filling, a tooth extraction or even a simple check up.

Reading this article and realizing how much help some people need in the United States makes me wish I could jump into the future, where I plan to use my Dental degree for not only start a private practice, but to also do pro bono work. Much of this pro bono work would be like something similar to what is currently being done in Florida as part of what is called Project: Dentists Care. Establish and supported by the Florida Dental Association, (pictured to the right) this program includes a community of dentist volunteer their time and services to provide a safety net to preventive and restorative dental care for those in greatest need. I believe that, by providing free dental care for all children, should be plan implemented in the United States to help prevent what happened to young Deamonte Driver from happening to other young children. There is no reason why somebody should suffer or even die from something that is treatable and can be taken care of so early and easily.