Dental Readiness: A Practice Priority Paradigm Shift Published March 22, 2011 By Lt. Col. Eric Cathey Dental Squadron commander DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- As the plane took off, I peeked through the window and began to reflect on my recent trip to the Chicago Dental Society Annual Midwinter Meeting. What a wonderful time it was to interact with my civilian dental colleagues and gather valuable, continuing education. I thought about the first time I attended this meeting as a new graduate from dental school. It was exactly 20 years to the date, and I began to compare my outlook on clinical dentistry and treatment priorities. What stood out about my life then? Twenty years ago I was beginning a private practice and my priorities were centered around generating new patients and practicing my dental-school knowledge to the best of my ability. I was responsible for providing leadership and guidance to my two-person staff. Although I spent a lot of time seeing patients, conversations with insurance companies and billing inquiries plagued my time. I often worked weekends and taking time off for a vacation did not exist. What stands out about my life now? I've had a phenomenal opportunity to join a world-class organization that has a key mission linked to our nations freedom and is enriched with patriotism and honor. Daily, my practice is aligned with methodology and protocols to fulfill this mission. The culture thrives on core values that parallel my life goals. I'm surrounded by highly intelligent and talented Airmen, and my days are filled with patient care and leading a premier squadron of 43 highly-motivated individuals. I could go on and on about the differences; however, I'm convinced that the single most important aspect that differs from my civilian counter parts is dental readiness. What is it and how does it affect decisions in treatment? Consider an Airman on the front lines of Afghanistan looking through the scope of a rifle or a maintenance crew chief turning a wrench to get a plane ready for a flying operation in Balad. Now pit that against an agonizing toothache; I guarantee the toothache will win. That moment in time where attention to detail is overshadowed by pain, or a sacrifice is made to convoy them to definitive care could mean the difference between life or death for our servicemembers and ultimately sacrifice the mission and our nations security. This is what dental readiness is about! We have to ensure each member of our force receives superb dental care by identifying and expeditiously treating any dental condition that will cause an emergency. This is a huge undertaking and members of the 436th Dental Squadron proudly perform on a daily basis; however, we don't do it alone. Every unit deployment manager and squadron commander supports the endeavor to push dental readiness to the maximum. As a wing, 98.5 percent of our personnel are dental ready. The Air Force standard is 95 percent. 72 percent of our personnel are in dental readiness classification 1, which means they need absolutely no treatment at all until their next annual exam. The Air Force standard is 65 percent. As I walked the halls of the meeting proudly wearing my service dress uniform and talking to civilian peers, I thought about how I used to contemplate treatment and procedures that would take care of patient's needs, generate income and grow my practice. I'm still the same person, but there has been a dramatic shift in my thinking; now my priority is to provide the best course of treatment needed for our servicemembers to optimize dental readiness, enhance survivability of our force and protect our nation's security and freedom.