Dental Clinic Reaches 100 Percent Readiness

Photo By Chief Petty Officer Brannon Deugan | Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Weibel, assigned to Naval Branch Health Clinic (NHBC) Meridian’s Dental Clinic, conducts a dental exam on a patient Dec.5. Weibel oversaw NHBC Meridian’s Dental Clinic’s achievement of a 100 percent dental readiness for more than 1,200 beneficiaries.  

PENSACOLA, FL, UNITED STATES

12.07.2018

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Brannon Deugan 

NMRTC Pensacola

Naval Branch Health Clinic (NBHC) Meridian's Dental Clinic achieved 100 percent Dental Readiness for the month of November.

The Navy's standard for dental readiness is that service members are either in the class one or class two dental category. Sailors in these categories only require minor dental treatment and do not have any conditions that require urgent dental care or that cause pain.

"It is a great accomplishment," said Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Weibel, a dental officer at NBHC Meridian. "Fortunately for us, the stars aligned and we were able to get this accomplished. We recognize that maintaining a 100 percent [readiness] may not always be possible, but we are glad that we achieved it this month."

Weibel transferred to NBHC Meridian about a year ago and the dental readiness at the command was averaging approximately 95 percent per month. He challenged his staff with the goal of raising the dental readiness percentage for the more than 1,200 beneficiaries seen at the clinic that includes Sailor and Marine students from the tenant training commands and Mississippi National Guardsmen. Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Levi Winebrenner accepted this challenge.

"He [Winebrenner] has been instrumental and his attitude has been wonderful," said Weibel. "We were slowly inching our way forward every month up to the last few months, and he decided to take it upon himself to take it to the next level. His perseverance has been critical."

Winebrenner developed a system in which he starts the month printing out a list of all the class three and class four dental category service members and putting them in a binder he created. Winebrenner then begins contacting individuals and their commands until everyone has an appointment to address their individual dental needs and lower to a category of one or two to meet Navy standards for readiness.

"It is important to be dental ready because that means you are taking care of your teeth and you're in good shape," said Winebrenner, from Independence, Kansas. "In most cases, these individuals simply need a yearly exam conducted, but in some cases these individuals need extenuating dental work."

Winebrenner is happy that he was able to take action to increase the command's dental readiness percentage.

"It made me feel good and made me feel like I was doing my command proud to reach a 100 percent dental readiness," said Winebrenner. "I like to work on things that I see the potential for improvement; I saw the dental readiness percentage and felt I could do something to improve that for the command and the Navy.

Weibel explained that while the 100 percent dental readiness is a great accomplishment, he wants the clinic to strive forward and shift some of the class two patients into class ones.

"We are transitioning to being more proactive so that we can aspire to get service members in ahead of time instead of after their dental readiness exams expire," said Weibel. "We are going to be proactive moving forward so we can keep these numbers up so it will be easier to maintain higher readiness."

Established in 1826, Naval Hospital Pensacola's mission is to deliver high quality health care to ensure a medically ready force and a ready medical force through strategic partnerships and innovation. The command is comprised of the main hospital and 10 branch health clinics across five states. To find out more, visit http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/pcola/Pages/default.aspx or download the command's mobile app (keyword: Naval Hospital Pensacola).

• Date Taken: 12.07.2018
• Date Posted: 12.07.2018 11:05
• Story ID: 302574
• Location: PENSACOLA, FL, US
• Hometown: HOUSTON, TX, US
• Hometown: INDEPENDENCE, KS, US
• Hometown: MERIDIAN, MS, US