Posted on 12/24/2007 7:18:58 PM PST by neverdem
BARBOURVILLE, Ky. — In the 18 years he has been visiting nursing homes, seeing patients in his private practice and, more recently, driving his mobile dental clinic through Appalachian hills and hollows, Dr. Edwin E. Smith has seen the extremes of neglect.
He has seen the shame of a 14-year-old girl who would not lift her head because she had lost most of her teeth from malnutrition, and the do-it-yourself pride of an elderly mountain man who, unable to afford a dentist, pulled his own infected teeth with a pair of pliers and a swig of peroxide.
He has seen the brutal result of angry husbands hitting their wives and the end game of pill-poppers who crack healthy teeth, one by one, to get dentists to prescribe pain medications.
But mostly he has seen everyday people who are too busy putting food on the table to worry about oral hygiene. Many of them savor their sweets, drink well water without fluoride and long ago started ruining their teeth by chewing tobacco and smoking.
Dr. Smith has a rare window on a state with the highest proportion of adults under 65 without teeth, where about half the population does not have dental insurance. He struggles to counter the effects of the drastic shortage of dentists in rural areas and oral hygiene habits that have been slow to change.
“The level of need is hard to believe until you see it up close,” said Dr. Smith, who runs a free dental clinic at a high school in one of Kentucky’s poorest counties. He also provides free care to about half of the patients who visit his private practice in Barbourville.
Kentucky is among the worst states nationally in the proportion of low-income residents served by free or subsidized dental clinics, and less...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Notice that Jesse doesn’t live in Appalachia. He lives in a big city.
when I read a story like this, the only thing that really crosses my mind is look at all the money that our government sends overseas to “help” poor countries and their citizens. look at all the money the rich and famous raise for charities that do nothing to help the least among us in OUR OWN FLIPPIN’ COUNTRY!!!
We must never forget that although we live in the best country in the world with the most opportunities it does not mean that everyone is fortunate.
Until you need money, a dentist, or a prescription filled ~
Yeah, I liked it when he chinked that fireplace up and when Ma made them mustard pickles. ;0)
Was that before or after he snuck into Russia to steal the plane ?
You can find plenty of those folks 70 mi from the glass and cash in Dallas
Afterward.
Remember when Bond was in KY in the film Gold Fiddle?
I thought that was On Her Majesty’s Secret Outhouse ?
L0L!
Thanks for the link. Merry Christmas!
The story that really bothers me is the woman in DC who refused to pay $75.00 to have her son’s rotten tooth extracted. He died of an infection because of it. I would gladly paid for it, had I known.
remember, it is pronounced Aaap-paaa-laahhh-chah not Aaap-paa-layyyyy-chah.
;-p
I don’t know what to say.
Everett Triumphantly Returns to Buffalo
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
I have those books!! At least the first 4 or 5, I don’t remember which. My oldest son “borrowed” them from me last fall, probably the last I’ll see of them! :) They are fascinating. I could now make a rifle, barrel, stock and all, pound laundry on a stump with a paddle, tan deer hides, card and spin wool, then weave it into fabric, I could go on and on. I re-read some of them before he took them, and I was thinking as I read them that all the people who were interviewed for the books I have are most likely gone now, and all that knowledge gone with them!
No need to say anything. I hope I didn’t make you sad.
I just thought you may have some insight to the general health
I remember that story........ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1792614/posts
It seems that you could give some people all the best health or dental care in the world. Give it to them for free if you like.
It still wont make a difference to some. They will continue to eat as they please and ignore basic hygiene.
I love those books as well.
Thankfully someone thought to document this stuff.
I found somethings in those books that I knew about but didnt understand the origins. (mustard pickles) I could murder some of those!
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