Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (May 5, 1978)
MAY 5, 1978 PAGI? 9 Dental Visit Shouldn't Be Unnerving No matter how friendly and assuring a dentist is, most of us carry fears that were instilled in us as children. That first visit to the dentist was totally humili ating. Even though your teeth are freshly brushed, you know for sure that the dentist will find traces of the candy bar you ate three weeks ago. Some dentists appear to be quite cruel, filling our gaping mouths with strange instru ments, then asking a question for an answer. I t’s always at that time, instruments and all, that you feel your comments on an issue just might change the' flow of the economy or world affairs. There is a new and friendly face that you’ve probably notic ed at the PHS dental clinic recently if you’ve been brave enough to walk through the doors. That face belongs to Wayne Schultz, our new dentist. The tall and mustachioed dentist arrived in Warm Springs about three months ago, after coming from Redlands, Califor nia, where he, his wife, and two little girls, lived while he attend ed Loma Linda School of Den tistry. Schultz is a native O re -' gonian, spending most of his childhood years in the Corvallis area. Schultz graduated from Walla Walla College in 1973 where he studied Medical Technology. He served as a Medical Technolo gist for two years at Portland Adventist hospital. Then in 1974, he decided to attend Loma Linda Upon graduation, Schultz ap plied and was accepted to serve in Warm Springs. Dentists, like all profession als, have private lives, too. Schultz is as industrious off the job as he is on. He has a private pilot’s license, but since his arrival here, has not had the opportunity to do any flying. He also enjoys the outdoors, listing down-hill and cross-country ski- “Is this the bombed out one?” asked Harold Pennington while he and Dr. Schultz examined x-rays of his teeth at a recent visit to the Indian Health Service dental clinic. CDS Photo ing, and camping as his favorite: When the dentist and his family moved to Warm Springs, they had an ordinary looking van. Now, that same van is a model of perfection as the Schultz family has installed four tinted windowsr and is presently im Health Service Planning Evaluated Having just recently spent a couple of days here at Warm Springs, Lititia Kirk and Alan Ham are Conducting a study to evaluate the Portland Area Ind ian Health Service Planning Process. The study began De cember 1977, and will be com pleted November 1978. The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board which has commissioned the study, is a federally recognized, non-profit advisory board which exists to represent the Northwest tribes on health matters. The board is responsible to the Portland Area Indian Health Service. The study will examine the Portland Area Office Planning Process, and find out what criteria, statistics, and input the office uses when planning. Information will be sought from Indian Health Service organiza tions on the national level, but “the most important part will be gathering consumer input.” Kirk (Evaluation Coordina tor) and Ham (Assistant Evalu ator) will visit all Pacific North west Tribes to see the effective ness, efficiency and deficiencies of the planning process current ly employed by the Portland Area IHS. This will involve studying the communication pattern from IHS Headquarters to Portland Area Office, IHS to proving on the interior, adding carpeting,paneling and a Couch. There are potentially 2,000 dental patients at Warm Springs, but the Portland Area office feels that only 60 per cent of the 2,000 are readily taking advant age of the PHS dental services. Presently, PHS is focusing on children, but in the near future, Schultz hopes to work in family groups. “Right now, we’re try ing to get the parents involved with the dental care of their children. We require parents to accompany children to their first visit. At this time we show the parents their children’s teeth. They are often shocked at what they see. We also get the medical release that is required for us to do the work that is necessary.” Schultz commented that four year-olds are much easier to work on than ten year-olds, especially if that four year-old harbors no ill feelings about visiting the dentist. Schultz hopes to help eliminate the chance of creating such fears. “ When, a four year old child comes in and he’s scared, I know that the fear is from his parents. But, if the ch ild'is relaxed, we try to make that first visit as pleasant as possi ble. The first visit makes them or breaks them.” It is advised that the word “ h u rt” not be mentioned in a dentist’s office. One cannot lie to a child when pain is involved. If a child is not informed that something is going to hurt, he will panic. That makes for a very bad f i r s t impression. Schultz uses many adjectives to describe any injections that might be necessary. “ Pinch” , “tickle” , or “ pull on y o u r cheek”, are just a few. One general practitioner in Madras has a subtle way of relaxing hitf dental patients. While waiting, one cannot hear the drills and other machines running. Although very clean, his office reminds one of their living room, with comfortable chairs, couches and magazines to read. There is one other added touch that helps one to forget all troubles and that is the music coming from the FM radio. After one is escorted into one of many chairs, one can view birds feeding and bathing outside. His “ back yard” is picturesque, with flowering trees and numerous perennials. The whole idea of the music, flowers and birds is to relax a patient, so much so that when the dentist is ready to work, the patient often has to be awakened from a deep sleep. Schultz advises the use of any flouride toothpaste. Child ren, especially need that added protection against b a c te ria which causes tooth decay. All adult teeth are cavity free when they come in, but only when they are exposed to bacteria, over a long period of time, do cavities develop. However, flouride toothpaste does very little to inhibit decay in adult teeth. “Just keep your teeth as clean as possible and brush often,” says the PHS dentist. With the possibility of fill ings, gold crowns and extrac tions, one can feel proud and satisfied that their constant daily care has paid off. The average cost of an exam, clean ing and one filling is $55 and a gold crown costs about $150, but with porcelain on that same gold crown, the cost is $200. After all the work is done, patients give a sigh of relief, but noting that in six months or so, the dentist should be revisited. Hopefully, though, on that visit, the dentist will Say “No cavities, just have them cleaned and we’ll see you again in six months.” Kah-Nee-Ta Employees Form Association Service Units, and to the con sumer. “The importance of evalua tion is that it is the key to future improved planning,” said Ham in a recent news release. “Bet ter planning there should raise the health status of the Ameri can Indians to a higher level,” he noted. “Some of the questions we will be asking the Portland Area Office, Headquarters, Service Units and consumers are: How do yoh see your role and func tion? What are your priorities? What are current problems? What is your involvement? How are'problems currently solved? What are the problems of com munication? How are j>lans of IHS being implemented? How are services provided and to whom? What is the quality of services provided? How does the Indian community accept and relate to these services?” asks Ham, Kirk and Ham are request ing comments and input from the community and health per sonnel, and will appreciate sug gestions of any kind. Write or call them at the Indian Health Board, 1501 Standard Plaza, 1100 S.W. Sixth Avenue, Portland, Oregon, 97204. The phone numb er is 228-4185. At their last employee meet ing at Kah-Nee-Ta it was de cided to form an association with officers. As a result Andy Lucas was elected President of the group, Brian Miker Vice President, Cathy Browden Se cretary, Sharon Berry Treasur er and Ron Harmon Sergeant at Arms. Lucas appointed Danny Martinez and Dennis Andrews to serve as co-chairmen for the sports committee. Their duties will require them to plan sports activities for the association. There have been several complaints about the lack of activity during the employees leisure time, so the group will plan events such as sports, social functions. Volleyball, bad minton, softball are some of the sport activities. The social events could involve picnics or just whatever the group wants, Lucas said. “ Looking for deer” , Effie Culpus and several Headstart children danced to recorded Southwestern songs. April 26 was “Indian Day” for the Early Childhood Development program. The children daneed at the social hall in the Community Center and later hosted 300 people at the longhouse at their annual root feast, which featured roots that the children dug themselves.
