Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Donald White | 220331-N-MY642-1002 PORTSMOUTH, Va. (Mar. 29, 2022) Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Paul...... read more read more
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (March 29, 2022) – Navy Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP) Dental Department has reached another milestone as they continue their established trend of excellence.
NMCP announced early this month they are continuing a remarkable 20-year streak of deploying ships above 95% operational dental readiness (ODR). The command leveraged partnerships with fleet medical assets and the force dental officer to improve ODR across the Fleet.
“Last year this was a goal and we discussed what it was going to take to get here and some were a bit hesitant,” said Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Glen Bell, the leading petty officer of Dental. “After a while it just became second nature, our daily grind to work and get things done just took over and went into over drive. Next thing we knew we were right at the cusp of readiness going over 96.5%, and once it did we stayed in the 97% ball park.”
Dental readiness is one of six components of individual medical readiness and is directed to be maintained at least 95% for all units according to Department of Defense policy. Dental health is promoted as a direct contributor to higher and more sustainable levels of dental readiness and a measure of service members’ access to, and utilization of, their total health benefit.
The dental department has a dual mission of maintaining operational dental readiness while training oral and maxillofacial surgery and general practice residents. Each specialty of dentistry is represented among the staff including: comprehensive/general dentistry, endodontics, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, oral and maxillofacial prosthetics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orofacial pain, oral and maxillofacial radiology and periodontics. In addition two full-time registered dental hygienists provide supportive dental care.
“This was all made possible by the range of the services we provide here including, annual dental exams and cavities filled, root canals to save the structure of your tooth, maintenance of your braces, gum tissue, crowns and bridges, jaw surgery, and a fully functioning Dental LAB with state of the art 3D printing capabilities. This is mostly used with Oral surgery where we print the surgical guides for dental implants,” said Bell.
Bell also gave all the credit to the Dental staff and their flexibility and dedication to patient care.
“First of all, the team is amazing. The Sailors and civilians here are the front runners and hard chargers. They are the reason we are able to reach our clinic goals,” said Bell. “They are the ones in the trenches contacting Dental Class 3 and 4 patients, while also strategically tracking and predicting the monthly trends from previous years to help schedule patients on the hit list."
He explained the team dynamic is why they not only succeed, but excel in dental patient care.
“I think the key factors to our success was, and still is, that we trust one another. We also all have strong personalities that mesh well and make it easy to get work done. Just like any other team, there are hiccups. But this team is all about fixing the issue to make thing run smoother,” said Bell.
As the U.S. Navy's oldest, continuously-operating military hospital since 1830, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth proudly serves past and present military members and their families. The nationally-acclaimed, state-of-the-art medical center, along with the area's 10 branch health and TRICARE Prime Clinics, provide care for the Hampton Roads area. The medical center also supports premier research and teaching programs designed to prepare new doctors, nurses and hospital corpsman for future roles in healing and wellness.
| Date Taken: | 03.30.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.31.2022 11:31 |
| Story ID: | 417560 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 134 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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