Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Samuel Northrup | Spc. Ricardo Chandler (left), a dental hygienist with 673rd Dental Company (Area...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Soldiers of the 673rd Dental Company (Areas Support), and providers from the JBLM dental activity, conducted a Dental Access Regulars Treatment Event (DARTE) to help increase the mission readiness of Soldiers from 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, by providing field dental care at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, March 8-17, 2016.
The DC(AS) provided essential services such as exams, cleanings, X-rays, endodontic treatment, periodontal treatment and root canal therapy.
“We are seeing about 180 patients during the first week,” said Col. Christensen Hsu, the commander of 673rd DC(AS), 62nd Medical Brigade. “We are going to see them again next week for definitive treatment. We will also perform any other restorative treatment, such as fillings, they need so we can get them to the highest state of readiness.”
The equipment used at the field clinic is similar to what a Soldier would see in a regular clinic, said Staff Sgt. Wendell Norris, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the DARTE. There are some minor differences; some of the equipment brought is built to be portable, but it accomplishes the same task. Whatever the provider needs, it was available during the DARTE.
“How we treat Soldiers in the field is the same as how we treat them in the clinic,” Norris said. “They get the same quality of service.”
This was the first time the DC(AS) provided field dental services to 5-20th Inf., Hsu said. The 5-20th Inf. was having a short training break, so their focus was to try to get all of their medical and dental readiness taken care of this month prior to their rotation to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif.
“So we came up with the idea to provide a field dental clinic right in their Area of Operations,” said Hsu. “This would make it easy for their Soldiers to get their dental readiness up. I think battalion commanders should definitely look into collaborating with units such as the 673rd, so we can provide them with services that help them with their medical and dental readiness.”
If the Soldier’s dental condition is unknown before going out on a mission, they could potentially have a dental disease or condition that could worsen, Hsu said. Depending on the condition, it could result in an infection inside the oral cavity as well as debilitating pain that will make them unable to do their job. In a deployment environment, some patients with those conditions will have to be medically evacuated to be treated by an oral surgeon.
“That is one thing you don’t want: to have a Soldier that is in an austere environment or some training area and they don’t have a dentist who can take care of debilitating pain,” she said.
Dental care is important because it is Soldier’s duty, said Norris. Soldiers have to maintain their bodies to ensure they are fully capable to do their mission.
“It can directly affect lives,” Norris said. “You might go down because a tooth ache is distracting you. You could be a gunner and you have those lives all depending on you. You may need a dental replacement and you will eventually get a replacement, but that is not the point. The point is having you fit to go to so you can successfully complete your unit’s mission.”
| Date Taken: | 03.18.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.22.2016 16:23 |
| Story ID: | 193169 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 86 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, DARTE helps 5-20th Inf. stay mission ready, by SFC Samuel Northrup, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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