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 ...
You know, it seems the NYSlimes are going out and looking for someone to throw money at.
Did these people feel sorry for themselves, or did someone go in and shame them? IMHO, someone is looking to infiltrate proud people. I don’t think the hill people went looking for a handout.
Thankfully, you only have to make your own barrels now if you want to! It’s a very tricky process, from what I understand.
“Thankfully, you only have to make your own barrels now if you want to! It’s a very tricky process, from what I understand.”
I watched him do one. After he had bored the barrel he had a rod with files on the end that he forced through it. It was guided by a spiral guide that he had made. A LOT of work.
It’s ironic, isn’t it? Folks who must pay for a minor plumbing repair job, folks who can’t build a table, let alone a house, rebuild an engine or even repair a flat tire, looking down on some of the most resourceful, ingenious people, on this planet. Folks like the one who came in the store one Sunday, couldn’t find a plumber, and didn’t have any hot water. I walked him through to the point I figured he needed a screw in type heating element. Then, I asked him, “is it 220 volts, or 110 volts? He said, “yes”! Good thing I didn’t get to the “watts” part of the question!
I don’t doubt his skills and knowledge, but they are limited, just as those of the Hillbillys some of you put down are.
I have some education, and some skills, I tried the big city thing, and hated it. The money isn’t everything, unless you can’t make anything else.
Just don’t step in it if you get one! lol.
It’s a small single-spring leg-hold trap. Catches smaller animals such as fox, coon, and smaller.
The whole clan came here to be free. Some of them moved North.
C'mon Down, Glad to see ya down here....but ya better stay out of Newport....
Florence is far more civilized....brought you by the Florence Chamber of Commerce / Newport Police Department *GRIN* :D
Not likely. Next thing that’ll happen is they burn the house down around them because the electric water pump doesn’t work.
“Have you ever read the Foxfire books?”
I own them. I also like Storey’s ‘Basic Country Skills.’ It should be required reading for every American, from farm to penthouse apartment.
It’s simply amazing to me how many basic life skills have been lost in TWO short generations!
Man, I miss my Grandma. She could make a FEAST from one lousy potato and whatever roadkill she happened to find fresh that day. ;)
Gee. I dunno. I’m from the “teach an man to fish” school of thought.
Teach a kid to brush! It’s really pretty simple, but it shows you how much of our Taxpayer dollars get thrown down a rat hole each year, trying to “fix” these easily preventable problems.
I would gladly adopt a kid or two and keep them in toothbrushes and toothpaste for life if anyone knows of an organization that will do that.
I will look up those books.
I learned some awesome metalworking skills from old timers.
Merry Christmas.
Great fun to slap on other kids behinds!
I know you’re just a little bit older than me, but my Grandpa worked on the MP, too. He was a machinist in Milwaukee, WI and made a lot of parts for those bombs when he was in his 30’s.
My Dad was also a machinist. He worked on the first Apollo mission to the Moon doing the same.
We have LOTS of reasons to be PROUD of our Blue Collar roots. I wouldn’t have wanted any other life. I am blessed to have had wonderful men to set great examples for me as I make my way through this Life...and on to the next! :)
P.S. You’ll be happy yo know that I have all of my teeth, too, LOL!
LOL.
There were (are) a number of "blue collar" millionaires from the small town in a "hillbilly state" where I grew up (some with more millions than the others). One lived next door to us in a white wood frame house. One had a large two story wood frame house in the country. Two have small brick houses in the country. One lived in a white wood frame house smaller than the one where we lived. None were (are) pretentious (well, one is borderline. ha.), and you wouldn't have known any of them were (are) millionaires by the way they lived (live) their daily lives. They know how to live and survive in both worlds. They could live a different lifestyle. They like the ones they are living.
Hey, notice these folks have money for “sweet drinks” and tobacco, but NOT dentists?? PLEASE!!! No dentist can afford to practice in Appalachia once he or she’s got those big debts, it’s off to the big cities to pay it all off. Now this Dr. Smith must have grants, etc., for his unique mobile dentistry, but I live in Kentucky, and the towns discussed here don’t even have grocery stores, much less dentists. And they buy their “sweet drinks” and tobacco at the gas station/convenience store.
These are kids from low- to no-income families, usually households of single moms. None of these moms work "on the books" jobs--they do some housecleaning, babysit, or they do nothing at all--just leech off the gubmint. Their kids ALL have access to free dental care in our state, right up until the age of 18. These kids only see a dentist twice a year, and that's the mobile dentist who comes through the school. These kids never brush their teeth. They eat nothing but garbage, because that's all their moms keep in the house. I know of at least two kids in my 'hood that have been treated for gum disease. Kids under TEN! I can't fault the kids for the inaction of their lazyass moms. They can't be bothered to teach their kids how to brush, or to make sure that they are brushing. They can't pry their butts off of their couches, not even for one stinking afternoon, to get their kids to the dentist.
I don't know where I'm going with this, just thought I'd share. You don't have to travel to Appalachia to find really reprehensible dentistry.
Hillary is from Illinois, not Arkansas.
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