| COHI President Honored For Work In Dental Field |
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By Owen Canfield
The Hartford Courant
Dr. Howard Mark, a clinical professor in the department of oral
and maxillofacial surgery at the 
University of Connecticut School of
Dental Medicine, was recently presented with the James W.
Etherington Award for his numerous contributions to the dental
profession. The award was presented at the Yankee Dental Congress in
Boston.
Mark has actively served the dental profession on countless
levels. He is a past president of the Hartford Dental Society, a
past president of the New England Society of Oral and Maxillofacial
Surgeons, and a past president of the medical staff of Mount Sinai
Hospital in New York City. He has served as secretary, vice
president and president of the American Association of Dental
Editors. He is a trustee for the McManus Fund of the Hartford Dental
Society, and is on the board of directors of the University of
Connecticut School of Dental Medicine's Society of Alumni and
Friends. He is also president and founder of the Connecticut Oral
Health Initiative, a nonprofit agency dedicated to providing oral
health services for underprivileged individuals throughout the
state.
Mark and his wife, Sheila, live in Farmington and have four
children and 12 grandchildren.
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About COHI
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The
Connecticut Oral Health Initiative, or COHI for short, is a state-wide
collaborative of dental professionals, business and community leaders.
Our Mission is Oral Health for All. We work to persuade, educate
and inform decision makers and the general public about the important
issues involving oral health. We started in 1992 as a project of the
Connecticut State Dental Association and incorporated as a separate
501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in 2003. We are supported by your
tax-deductible contribution and grants from progressive foundations and
businesses.
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Dental problems
hurting soldiers' readiness
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"20 percent of (the Army's) citizen soldiers arrived
at mobilization sites with dental conditions that
made them nondeployable." By Alex Fryer, Seattle Times staff reporter Within Washington's Army National Guard, they were known as the "Denture Dozen," a group of men released from active duty during the Iraq call-up because their teeth barely held in their mouths.
The dental lab at Fort Lewis, near Seattle WA makes molds for crowns, dentures and
bridges. When the 81st Brigade Combat Team was called up last year,
many of the guardsmen required extensive dental work.
They were the most egregious examples of a trend that military planners said complicated the massive deployment of the state's citizen soldiers last year.
About 30 percent of the 4,500 guardsmen called to active duty were discovered to have dental problems so severe they were unfit to go overseas.
. . .
The problem, Washington National Guard officials said, was simple: Many guardsmen lacked dental insurance and were unable or unwilling to pay for care.
"We spend an awful lot of money making sure the MI-AI (tank) is ready to be deployed. We spend absolutely nothing on physical readiness of soldiers prior to mobilization," said Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, head of the Washington National Guard. "It is a significant point of failure."
It also is a national problem: The Army discovered 20 percent of its citizen soldiers arrived at mobilization sites with dental conditions that made them nondeployable.
On Wednesday, the House Armed Services Committee passed a $441 billion defense bill that included a provision to provide permanent, government-paid health and dental insurance to National Guard members before they mobilize.
Estimated cost: $3.8 billion over 5 years.
Whether the provision will survive when the final bill goes to the House floor next week remains to be seen.
But the committee noted it was "concerned that improvements are needed in addressing the dental needs of the reserve components," and Congress is almost certain to examine ways to improve the readiness of the nation's part-time soldiers.
The Army discovered during the Persian Gulf War mobilizations of 1990-91 that significant numbers of reservists could not be deployed due to poor dental status, and the Army began collecting information on the health of non-active duty personnel. Active-duty soldiers are provided dental care at little or no cost.
. . .
Last year, the Army established new readiness guidelines, including a goal that 95 percent of mobilized soldiers would show up with teeth healthy enough to deploy.
. . .
When National Guard troops are activated, they go through examinations to make sure they are physically fit.
The average age in the 81st Brigade is 31, and medical ailments weren't much of an issue.
Dental problems were another story.
. . .
Once a guardsman is activated, health care is paid by the military, and most of the soldiers in the 81st were treated at Fort Lewis.
. . .
Some of the men were in such bad shape, Army dentists created computer slides of their patients to show students some of the worst cases they'd ever seen.
. . .
Lack of access to a dentist, insurance and financial resources were the main reasons why soldiers let their oral hygiene slip.
Free care for guardsmen?
When the first waves of National Guard units were activated across the nation in 2003, it soon became clear the dental-readiness problems that cropped up in the Persian Gulf War had not eased.
As part of the supplemental war budget in 2004, Congress made it possible for Guard soldiers to receive free dental care when placed on alert status, which typically occurs several weeks before troops are activated.
. . .
Meanwhile, the Washington Army National Guard is considering deploying mobile military dental vans to follow troops during their weekend drills, showing up at rifle ranges to examine soldiers while they wait their turn.
And the Guard is updating computer networks to better track troops' dental records.
. . .
Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company
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