Invest In Your Dentist - Perioeconomics

According to a Pew Center report, more Americans are turning to the emergency room for routine dental problems — a choice that often costs 10 times more than preventive care and offers far fewer treatment options than a dentist's office. Many of those emergency visits involve trouble such as toothaches. In Minnesota, nearly 20 percent of all dental-related ER visits are return trips, the analysis said.That's because emergency rooms generally are not staffed by dentists.

Simply seeing your dentist for routine checkups and preventive care could save millions of dollars to society.

Perioeconomics is about the financial impact of oral disease on society and medical care costs.

81 BILLION dollars was spent in the U.S. in 2006 as a result of oral biofilm (Flemmig et al 2011). Spread the word. Invest in your dentist.

Sturge-Weber Syndrome - Oral Manifestations

Sturge-Weber Syndrome (SWS), also known as encephalotrigeminal angiomatosis occurs in about 1 of 50,000 births as reported in Nelson's Textbook of Pediatrics.

SWS usually occurs at birth and sometimes is associated with seizures or mental retardation. It's visual characteristic is a facial port wine stain. Few intraoral photos are available of SWS, so I took the following images with permission from one of our patients at the Care Free Dental Clinic in Escanaba, Michigan:

Most apparent on the hard and soft palate are the bright red striations caused by oversized blood vessels.

He reports being told that he is very fortunate, because he has no mental retardation or seizures.

100% Government Free Health Care

I just read a linked story on CNN about the current health care debate. People out West in Big Sky, Montana stated that they were concerned about government intervention in their health care coverage. They didn't want government to get too involved in their own choices and care. One person interviewed was at a low-cost dental clinic stating that government intervention was bad. The interviewer elucidated the fact that the U.S. government was financing about 50% plus of the costs of the clinic.

Wait a minute! It's obvious that another idea needs to get more press. Since January of 2008, the Care Free Dental Clinic, Inc. has been in operation in Delta County, Michigan. We have provided over 350,000 dollars in free dental services to over 1500 patients. The population we serve are the uninsured, homeless, and low-income residents of our county.

The Care Free Dental Clinic is unique. There are no paid employees. Rent, heat, and lights are donated. We don't even have a phone. The clinic is staffed by community volunteers. Eleven dentists donated their time to keep the clinic staffed for two half days every week. About 50 volunteers comprised of dental assistants, receptionists, and dentists work together to the common goal of serving others. "Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others." is our motto.

Funding for the clinic is by private and individual donations. We have an annual fund raiser which raises much of the money for materials and disposables. Every dollar of money coming into our clinic goes directly to patient care. Our local St. Vincent DePaul Society has housed the clinic since its inception, and is presently adding on two new rooms for our clinic expansion.

Now, if this simple but effective clinic has demonstrated our community's ability to care for its own, why can't the idea spread to other areas. We know it can! It will take time. It will take good people. It will take miracles, but it can come to fruition. This idea is certified 100% Government Free. Pass it on.

We The People must be the answer to our own problems. Let's not wait for someone else to take care of us. Let's not wait for someone else to solve the problem. Let us do as our forefathers did and take ownership for our own problems. Encourage others around you to get involved. Keep an open heart and mind when people around you try to do good for others. Donate to a cause. Your monies will come back ten times to you.

Share this miraculous, encouraging story with others. Please forward this to your friends in the hope it may inspire someone else to join in the fight to continue our independence from government intervention. Together we can care for each other, save our American way of independent living, exercise the freedoms we are so blessed to enjoy, and not just sit back and wait for someone else to throw small coins into our laps.

We are also encouraged by the possibility that our potential Surgeon General is aware of the power of volunteerism. (Read also: Sherpa Nell.) Dr. Regina Benjamin has also given selflessly of herself in tending to the needs of her patients in Alabama, many times donating her services.

For further information on the Care Free Dental Clinic, Inc. or to learn how you can help support the growth of clinics like this, contact Paula Jacobs, R.N. at pjacobs@hughes.net.