Impressions
and used mostly hardware store style tools and a Dremel like tool rather than standard dental instruments . Tim had been extracting teeth , among other procedures . Although he was only a dental assistant , he had been practicing dentistry under the supervision of his father , Dr . Max Gurley . None of these individuals went to dental school abroad or in the United States . Maria and Martha hardly had a normal practice . Each worked in her apartment or a rented room . Their patients had to be aware that they weren ’ t for real . Was it denial because of the affordability ? I seriously doubt that these two women accepted dental insurance , so it was a fee-for-service business . All dentists dream of a feefor-service practice . These imposters figured out how to get this coveted patient population into their chairs , DentalEz and Barcalounger alike .
One of the biggest medical problems facing our society today is access to dental care . The complexity of the problem has all levels of organized dentistry and government scrambling for solutions . It also has dental patients seeking care in unlikely places . Dentists volunteering their time have been one important solution . Each year , hundreds of thousands of hours are donated around the world to provide needed dental care to those less fortunate . From the far Asian continent to our neighborhoods , dentists , dental students and dental hygienists proudly give their time and materials to help others . Medicaid is another component to the problem . The government reimburses providers at levels so low that it hardly pays to offer their services . With delay of claims and the number of no-show patients , the dental Medicaid system is seriously flawed . But , it continues to operate and provide needed care to many patients . The dentists who stay in this system are the real heroes . Local nonprofit dental clinics also help fill the dental care gap . Dentists either volunteer to work in a clinic or agree to see patients in their own offices at no cost . This is a very generous solution , but there are too many patients and too few dentists . More importantly , we are not going to solve the access issue with charity alone .
Dental schools also help , but they operate as a business and do not generally offer free dental care . They must make money to cover their costs . In fact , most dental schools don ’ t even break even with the fees charged in the dental clinic .
It ’ s time to stop blaming the lack of access to care on someone else and time to start trying to help . Anyone who is not for one solution or another must come up with an alternative , otherwise they are just part of the problem . If we try something and it doesn ’ t work , then we will have to try something else . It ’ s too easy to just say , “ it ’ s complicated and can ’ t be solved .” I don ’ t want to see us mandated to do things . I would rather we continue to solve and promote what we do so well , help others in need . Just do a daily search for the keyword “ dental ” under Google News and you will see at least three news items each day about dentists helping in their community . That is the message we need to continue to promote – dentists are part of the solution , not part of the problem . As far as unlicensed dentistry , it goes to show you that we are envied by others and trusted by many .
— BRT
6 September / October 2010 • Pennsylvania Dental Journal