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New dental clinic at deployed base offers better military care, saves time, money

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Chance Babin
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Though often overlooked, dental care is vital to keeping military members healthy during deployments and ensuring they can contribute to the fight.

This service is now available to the Airmen at the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing and its mission partners providing needed medical care to deployed personnel and saving time and money.

"Prior to us arriving, our Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors were being sent off base for treatment, which took up a lot of valuable time and money," said Master Sgt. S. Dwayne Shrewsbury, the NCO in charge of aerospace medicine for the 380th Expeditionary Medical Group.

Adding a dental clinic on base will save roughly $15,000 per month, and allows personnel to be treated more quickly, EMDG officials said.

Getting the dental clinic up and running from scratch proved to be quite a challenge, however.

"When we got here we found out that none of our equipment or supplies had been ordered and they didn't have space for us yet," said Shrewsbury, a native of Cleveland, Tenn., who is stationed at the Pentagon. "We immediately started the process of ordering supplies and equipment. It took about two and a half months for everything to come in. Since this is a new clinic we needed everything in order to be functional."

Having to wait for equipment and supplies could have been a show stopper for the two-man office.

"A dentist without anesthetic and basic equipment is a frustrated person," said Maj. (Dr.) Bradshaw Stout, the dentist with the 380th EMDG. "I was able to diagnose problems without being able to take care of them. I like to fix problems not to sit by and watch them."

As with all military missions, the dental shop had to find a way to adapt and overcome in order to accomplish their mission.

"We quickly made arrangements with the [host nation] dental clinic to allow us to take emergency dental patients over there to use their facility," Shrewsbury said.

This partnership with the host nation gave the dental team time to get their office space problem solved while still providing care to the Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors here.

"The [host nation] graciously provided us with instruments, materials and space at no cost," said Stout, a Herminie, Pa., native. "While we were working out of the [host nation] clinic we acquired and remodeled another building and moved the bio-environmental and public health offices into that building, providing space for the dental clinic and other much needed work space."

Shrewsbury said starting a new clinic from scratch was right up his alley.

"I know this deployment was meant for me because of my vast experience in all areas of my career field and my knowledge of home remodeling," he said.

Now the clinic is fully up and running and ready to serve the needs of the Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors here.

"We are very happy to have our own home now," Stout said. "We don't wish dental problems on anyone but now we are ready to fix the ones that happen."

This is why dental care in the deployed environment is so important for the personnel here, Stout said.

"Since we have such good dental care in the Air Force most of us don't know what it is like to have dental pain or infection that keeps us awake at night," he said.
This kind of pain can definitely be a factor in mission effectiveness, he said.

"Individuals that lack sleep and are physically sick generally don't do their jobs well," Stout said. "When an Airman or Soldier is taken out of the fight, instead of a trickledown effect, we get a piece of the foundation that is weakened or missing. If there is enough weakening of the foundation the whole structure is in jeopardy."

The dental clinic services include fixing jaw fractures, denture repair and the treatment of trauma from broken or knocked out teeth, abscesses and toothaches, fillings and gum problems. All active-duty members including Guard and Reserve on active-duty orders are eligible for care.

The clinic is open Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the team is on call for emergencies. They are located on the second floor of the medical clinic.

"I feel like I have come off the bench and am doing what I signed up for," said Stout, who is stationed at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, D.C. "Generally, people here have a sense of purpose and do their jobs with vigor. It makes my job more fun to treat people who have a good attitude and sense of purpose."