Mobile dentistry team keeps soldiers in the fight

Photo By Capt. Jason Beck | U.S. Army Dr. (Capt.) Mitch J. Hernandez, a Louisville, Ky., native, and U.S. Army Spc. Arnold C. Dedmon, a dental technician, and a Baltimore native, from Charlie Company, 201st Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Task Force Duke, provide a standard filling to U.S Army Spc. Steven Dudley a Dunnellon, Fla., native, as part of a mobile dentistry team visit to Combat Outpost Wilderness, a remote outpost in the mountains of Paktya province, Afghanistan, June 2.  

PAKTYA PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

06.02.2011

Story by Capt. Jason Beck 

Combined Joint Task Force 1 - Afghanistan

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Over the course of five days, a mobile dentistry team from Charlie Company, 201st Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Task Force Duke, examined and treated soldiers at Combat Outpost Wilderness, Afghanistan.

This is the fourth mission for the two-person team based in Gardez. U.S. Army Dr. (Capt.) Mitch J. Hernandez, a general dentist, Louisville, Ky., and U.S. Army Spc. Arnold C. Dedmon, a dental technician, travel throughout Task Force Duke’s area of operations providing necessary dental care to soldiers.

U.S. Army Capt. J.P. Montreuil, a physician’s assistant with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, runs the aid station on COP Wilderness.

“I started sending soldiers out to Forward Operating Base Salerno for dental care. However, if you send a soldier out to Salerno, you may not see them again for a week (due to travel time),” said Montreuil, a New Orleans native.

Montreuil reached out to his brigade for guidance and scheduled the mobile dentistry team.

Soon after landing at COP Wilderness, the mobile dentistry team, with the assistance of Montreuil and his team, started setting up their equipment.

“One of our main challenges is simply transporting all of our equipment. We travel with nearly 600 pounds of dental equipment,” said Dedmon, a Baltimore native.

Within a couple of hours, Hernandez and Dedmon were seeing their first patients for initial examinations. The team offers many services including, fillings, root canals, extractions and, when time and circumstances permit, the occasional cleaning and mouth guard fitting. On this visit, 12 soldiers received care.

U.S. Army Spc. Steven W. Dudley, an artilleryman and native of Dunnellon, Fla., assigned to 1st Platoon, Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Task Force Duke, underscored how helpful it was to have the mobile dentistry team come to COP Wilderness.

“To take a member of the platoon out of the fight means more on the soldiers that remain,” said Dudley. “So, the fact that (the mobile dentistry team) can come to us means we can stay here and join the fight again sooner.”

U.S. Army Cpl. Nicholas A. Bourdon, an indirect fire infantryman and native of St. Albans, Vt., attached to Bravo Troop, 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division from the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment’s mortar platoon, echoed the importance of having the dental team on COP Wilderness. “It allows me to focus on the mission instead of tooth pain.”

“Deployed dentistry is harder than regular dentistry, because people tend to wait longer to be seen and it turns into a more complex issue,” said Hernandez. “I enjoy getting people out of pain and to make them more comfortable.

“Over 90 percent of the issues we see and treat are a result of not brushing and flossing,” said Hernandez.

Dedmon said, apart from traveling with so much gear, other challenges include leaders not informing their soldiers when the mobile team is available, soldiers not showing up and the occasional mechanical issue with the dental equipment.

However, the greatest challenge is soldiers simply not seeking dental care. “We can’t treat a problem we don’t know about,” said Dedmon.

Both Dudley and Bourdon received standard fillings and returned to duty shortly after their dental treatment.

In fact, Bourdon taught a class to his Afghan National Army counterparts on how to properly fire a 120 mm mortar and Dudley helped the cooks serve dinner.

• Date Taken: 06.02.2011
• Date Posted: 06.09.2011 18:24
• Story ID: 71874
• Location: PAKTYA PROVINCE, AF