- Ok, so in the last post, we explored my snobby anti-snobness. In this post we're going to explore some of the whys.
I talked about how even with a job, dental insurance, working IN a dental school, I can't afford the dental care I need to have done to prevent three of my teeth from rotting out of my head.
Now, let's talk about people who have less money than I do, no dental insurance and live way the hell and gone out in the middle of nowhere. In this specific case, I'm talking about the Alaskan Native population.
Now, Alaska, realizing that it isn't good when you have an entire population that regularly loses all their teeth by the age of 20 because of lack of access to care, has put together a Dental Health Aide Therapist program that has created a class of caregiver to travel to these remote villages and perform very basic dentistry like fillings and extractions. You can read the American Public Health Association's support for the creation of Dental Health Aide Therapists here.
Per that memo, Dental Health Aide Therapists have been performing these tasks in New Zealand for more than 80 years, and the Canadian province of Saskatchewan for 30, without creating chaos, strife and the Apocalypse. Or even, in the case of Sakatchewan, a single case of malpractice. Given how many dental faculty have served as expert witnesses in malpractice suits against full Dentists in the time I've worked here, that is saying something.
Dentists have their knickers well and truly wadded over what they say they perceive as an erosion of the standard of care. They keep fighting this, even after admitting that none of them want to make the sacrifices going out to serve these people at rates they can afford would take (the quote in question is toward the bottom about working in the Bush). The point I'd like to make is, "What fucking good is that standard if no one can afford the care?" Yeah, it'd be great if everyone everywhere could get the same standard of dental care that an affluent person in an urban environment with a wide selection of dentists to choose from has. But that isn't happening, and something is better than nothing.
I've had friends extract their own teeth, or have other friends help them do it. Still other friends just swallow handfuls of tylenol until the infection destroys the nerve, and then just let the tooth rot out because they can't afford to go in and have a dentist do the work, and at least it doesn't hurt anymore. And that's HERE in an urban environment with a dental school and scads of dentists, and low-income dental clinics. The problem with the low-income clinics, though, are that there aren't enough of them and the waiting lists for appointments are months long. Unless you've got yourself a good case of sepsis from the infection complete with fever and swelling, you're not getting in right away.
Now, take that problem, remove the dental school and the low-income clinics, or any clinics really, and what are your options? Yeah. Where before you MIGHT have gotten lucky and snuck in when there was a cancellation or something, now... You're supposed to drive hours in a vehicle you may not have, using gas you may not be able to afford, to get care you certainly can't afford.
I can't really get into some of the discussions I've had with dentists I've met through the school, because that probably would be going too far and could get my ass fired, so I'll leave it at this: Dentists, you have the means to make dental care more accessible and affordable, just admit that damn few of you want to make those sacrifices. In other words, if I can drive around a 20 year old Blazer with busted door handles and a window held up with duct tape, why the hell can't you?
Comments