Our View: A Mission that Brings a Bright Smile

The Las Cruces Convention Center was converted into a massive free dental clinic for two days earlier this month, and it truly something to smile about.

With equal parts compassion, efficiency and professional competence, the Mission of Mercy event, organized by the New Mexico Dental Foundation, brought free dental care services to the community. They treated some 1,600 patients during the two days, performing everything from routine cleanings to root canals and oral surgery.

More than 130 dentists from throughout the state came to Las Cruces for the event, along with an equal number of dental hygienists. Local dental students were able to lend a hand and gain professional experience at the same time.

The first Mission of Mercy was held 2010 in Albuquerque. Next year’s event is scheduled for Farmington. Each time, dentists from throughout the state travel to the host site to help out.

“There’s really a sense of camaraderie, and it’s a good opportunity for dentists from throughout the state to come together,” said Dr. Julius Manz of Farmington. “It’s been so gratifying to come down to southern New Mexico to help out. I’d love to see dentists from Las Cruces again in 18 months for the next Mission of Mercy.”

The stereotype, handed down throughout the years, has it that a trip to the dentist is something to be dreaded. With the Mission of Mercy, just the opposite was true. Many of those receiving free treatment were seeing a dentist for the first time in years.

And instead of dread, there was gratitude. “You’ve probably never seen people so excited to have dental work performed,” said Michael Moxey, communications director for the New Mexico Dental Foundation. “One woman wrote that she hadn’t been to a dentist in 20 years and was so grateful for this opportunity. People have said they’ll never forget what these dentists have done for them and I’ve even seen people hug the dentists when they’re done.”

The professionalism and coordination exhibited in treating patients ranging in age from small children to senior citizens was truly impressive. But what was most impressive was the level of care patients were able to receive with so many being treated at the same time.

Mission of Mercy is by far the largest and most visible charitable event by the Dental Foundation and its members, but it is far from the only one. Many local dentists give back to the community in smaller ways throughout the year.

We join with the 1,600 patients in offering our thanks.

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Captions:

22- Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly and Kansas Begaye

12- Kansas staffs our table

13- Communications Director Michael Moxey

14- Representative James Roger Madelena, Co-Chair of the Indian Affairs Committee, with Kansas Begaye and Stephine Poston

Free dental clinic

On behalf of the New Mexico Dental Foundation, in partnership with the New Mexico Dental Association and the local community, I would like to invite the residents of southern New Mexico to volunteer in assisting the largest charitable event in the state, the New Mexico Mission of Mercy (NM MOM). On March 1-4, the Las Cruces Convention Center will be converted into a free dental clinic to provide first come, first serve care to anyone with oral health issues. In October 2010, more than 1,700 volunteers donated their time to the inaugural NM MOM held in Albuquerque.

As chairman of the 2012 New Mexico Mission of Mercy, I can tell you that this event changes the lives of both patients and volunteers. But, we need the help of Doña Ana County and the surrounding communities to make it a success. Volunteering is the perfect way to give back and illustrate your interest in helping New Mexico overcome the barriers to oral health care. Concerned citizens will volunteer alongside 400 dental professionals to send notice that our state needs a solid infrastructure that will provide prevention, education and early intervention for all New Mexicans.

We will need every type of skill set, from translators to patient registration to general clean up. Whether you are helping direct traffic, serving meals, or providing entertainment to those in line, every job is critical. If you are an individual, or belong to an organization that wishes to help, please visit www.nmdentalfoundation.org to register.

Thanks to Delta Dental of New Mexico and ConocoPhillips for their generous financial sponsorship of the 2012 Las Cruces NM MOM. New Mexico Mission of Mercy is funded solely by community and individual donations. The NM MOM Las Cruces fundraising efforts are being chaired by Dr. David Warren and Dr. Chuck Murrell. Please consider a financial or in kind donation to the 2012 NM MOM event. A donation can be made online at www.nmdentalfoundation.org or by calling (575) 644-3238.

MARTIN H. POEL, DMD

New Mexico Mission of Mercy chairman

Las Cruces

November 7, 2011 505-294-1368

The New Mexico Dental Association Welcomes Michael Moxey to Post as Director of Communications and Government Advocacy

Albuquerque- The New Mexico Dental Association (NMDA) is proud to welcome the addition of Michael Moxey as Director of Communications and Government Advocacy. Thanks to a grant from the American Dental Association (ADA), Mr. Moxey will be helping the NMDA meet their media and legislative goals.

“We are excited to add Michael to our already excellent team,” stated NMDA Executive Director Mark Moores. “His background in media, community service and government affairs will be useful in helping the NMDA gain a higher profile across the state.”

Mr. Moxey comes to the NMDA from Charter Bank, where he served as the Community Relations and Marketing Director. Prior to that, Mr. Moxey served as the Communication Director for the New Mexico Economic Development Department in Santa Fe. His career also includes a dozen years in media in Albuquerque and Austin, Texas, as a morning radio show host and television personality.

“I am excited about the opportunity to work on behalf of the NMDA to help build on their successful track record of creating common sense solutions to the challenges of improving access to quality dental care for all New Mexicans,” stated Mr. Moxey.

For further inquiries, contact Mr. Moxey at 505-294-1368 or at mmoxey@nmdental.org.

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Michael Moxey

Director of Communications and Government Advocacy

New Mexico Dental Association

9201 Montgomery Blvd NE # 601

Albuquerque NM 87111

Office: 505-294-1368

Cell: 505-259-3048

By: Kevin Earle, Aug 17, 2011, Indian Country Today Media Network

Recent postings at Indian Country Today Media Network have highlighted roadblocks that stand in the way of many Native Americans receiving quality oral health care. It is apparent that there is a need for better education about oral health, tribal outreach and the coordination and facilitation of care in many communities.

However, these articles focused on a single proposal that has not been widely implemented or tested across tribal communities. We have learned that challenges and needs differ from reservation to reservation. It’s important to focus available resources on creating custom solutions that address specific tribal community needs.

We need a systematic approach in order to address access issues effectively. This includes identifying the most underserved populations within each reservation, conducting research to understand specific barriers to care, defining goals and measures for success, and using these findings to identify potential new solutions and ways to enhance efficiency. This is best done in collaboration with several partners and stakeholders who are committed to the community, and who can work together and pool their expertise and resources to enhance community members’ oral health.

With this in mind, I’d like to highlight two recent developments that have provided funds and advanced the discourse regarding Native American oral health.

(1) On July 26, the House of Representatives voted to accept an amendment from Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), a former dentist, which allocates a $4.3 million plus funding increase to advance the oral health of Native Americans. When the final bill passes, the money will be given to the Indian Health Service, with a directive to use the funds on oral health.

As most of you are aware, these funds are sorely needed. Currently, in Native communities between 25-50 percent of preschool children suffer from extensive tooth decay, which requires full mouth restoration under general anesthesia, compared to less than 1 percent of non-Native children. The funds could help minimize these health disparities.

(2) Additionally, in April, the 2011 Arizona American Indian Oral Health Summit brought together representatives from tribes, urban Indian organizations, IHS and key state, public health and private sector stakeholders to share information, resources and strategies for improving access to dental services and the oral health of Native American communities in Arizona. The Summit focused on important knowledge and capacity building issues, and facilitated peer-to-peer mentorship and collaborative problem sharing. The participants continue to work together today to identify and push forward strategies to remove barriers and enhance oral health care in Arizona Indian communities.

The Summit discovered many possible solutions, including increasing funding for oral health initiatives, improving the use of IHS resources and adding new members to the dental team. These solutions are all Arizona-focused and came through analysis of Arizona-specific issues. If more summits like this are held throughout the United States, we will be able to identify barriers to care and develop the right solutions to address each community’s particular challenges.

Now is the time for collaboration. We must all work together with open minds and without set agendas in order to improve oral health care in Native communities using available resources most effectively.

Kevin Earle, MPH, is Executive Director of the Arizona Dental Association, a founding member of the Native American Oral Health Care Project. Earle served as Committee Co-Chair for the 2011 American Indian Oral Health Summit.

By: Amanda Schoenberg/Journal Staff writer on Monday, Aug 15, 2011

As children, Lisa Antonio of Laguna Pueblo and Raelene Zospah, who is Navajo, remember visiting Indian Health Service hospitals with their worried grandmothers.

“I always saw her get nervous, and she would hold my mom’s hand,” says Antonio.

Those early experiences with what they saw as a flawed health care system marked by long waits and insufficient information led both to pursue medicine.

Support

The Center for Native American Health at UNM accepts donations to help Native medical students with extra expenses, such as trips home for tribal ceremonies. For information call 272-4100.

In July, Antonio, 22, started medical school at the University of New Mexico. Zospah, 33, entered her third year. Antonio and Zospah join a total of 20 Native American medical students at UNM, including four entering students. Last year, the first for the BA/MD program at UNM, the number of medical students jumped from 77 to 94. Since 2007, four Native American students entered each year, apart from 2009, when nine students entered UNM.

The numbers fall short of representing the state’s Native population. Among New Mexico’s more than 2 million people, those who identify as American Indian or Alaskan Natives made up 9.4 percent of the population in 2010, according to the Census Bureau. People who identify as American Indian and another race were 10.7 percent.

UNM is working to increase the number of Native students with recruiting efforts and help navigating the complex medical school entry process.

When Dr. Gayle DinéChacon graduated in 1993, she was the only Native student in her medical school class. DinéChacon, associate professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine and director of the Center for Native American Health at UNM, says the experience was “very lonely and very isolating.” She was far from family and her larger community in Chinle, Ariz., and they didn’t understand the challenge of attending medical school while raising three children.

Balancing school and culture was sometimes difficult. Going home for a tribal ceremony was not frowned upon by the school but wasn’t supported either. Those kinds of dilemmas can affect student success, she says.

“If you’re not supposed to go home, if you feel guilty that you have to even ask, that affects your relationship with home, that affects your own spirituality,” she says.

DinéChacon remembers walking around UNM and spotting one student who looked like her. The third-year student, Cleora Shunkamolah, now a doctor in Oklahoma, asked if she wanted to meet for coffee.

“She immediately became a role model,” DinéChacon says. “It was really finding someone who understood.”

UNM as a magnet

While the numbers have improved, work is still needed to make UNM a magnet for Native medical students, DinéChacon says.

“I think we’re doing better than the rest of the nation,” she says. “We’re probably carrying the load for other schools. But we certainly need to do better just to catch up.”

Efforts include a free MCAT course for students in underserved communities and those who are “educationally disadvantaged,” students who didn’t have laboratories or AP courses at school, says Marlene Ballejos, assistant dean for admissions at UNM’s School of Medicine.

In April, UNM’s School of Medicine hosted the first pre-admission workshop for Native students with the Four Corners Alliance, including medical schools in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, and the Association for American Indian Physicians. UNM also reaches out to Native high school and middle school students.

Since 2009, Native students studying for health careers at UNM have a place of their own. At the Ervin Lewis Native American Center, students can gather to study, meet with tribal leaders or use resources like books on Navajo diagnostic terms.

Zospah often eats lunch there to laugh and unwind. She also frequents the Center for Native American Health at UNM, calling it her “saving grace.” As the first person in her family to graduate from college, Zospah says she needed to connect with people like DinéChacon who understand her cultural life and medical school experience.

“I would just go and talk to them like they were my aunties,” she says. “I don’t know if I would have been able to do this without them.”

Scholarships

Nationwide, the number of Native medical students remains low. Between 1978 and 2008, 75 percent of medical school graduates were white, 6.3 percent were African American, 5.5 percent were Hispanic or Latino and 0.5 percent were American Indian or Alaska natives, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

In 2010, 2.9 million people described themselves as American Indian or Alaskan natives, about 0.9 percent of the population. More than 5.2 million people, or 1.7 percent, said they were American Indian and another race.

To create a pipeline for Native doctors, the Indian Health Service funds a scholarship for 56 medical students per year, says Dr. Carmen Clelland, a doctor of pharmacy and director of the division of health profession support for IHS.

Getting more Native students into medical school means focusing on education on reservations, DinéChacon says. Parents also need help understanding medical school. She also advocates better relationships with tribes so new Native doctors can find land and housing if they go home.

By the time she was a sophomore in high school, Antonio knew she wanted to be a doctor. She wants to return to Laguna Pueblo to improve the health system.

Antonio, whose father was governor of Laguna for four years, watched her siblings finish higher education. One brother graduated from dental school, her sister has a master’s degree in social work and a brother has a degree in computer animation. Support and strong role models helped her succeed, she says.

“Not a lot of kids have that on the reservations,” she says.

After leaving home at 14 to attend high school in Utah, Zospah attended community college, then completed her degree at Montana State.

Leaving home meant losing touch with her community, she says. Zospah, who spent the summer studying for her board exam in Kansas, chose UNM because she wanted to work with Native patients. She plans to return to Shiprock to practice.

When she watched doctors interact with her grandmother, she remembers that they didn’t explain what they were doing. Navajo elders also tend not to ask a lot of questions, she says.

In her first year, she did a rotation at the IHS hospital in Shiprock, which she says opened her eyes to the complexity of the system. Problems were not always because of a doctor’s misunderstanding or cultural insensitivity, she says. Sometimes their hands were tied when it came to the resources they could offer patients, she says.

Zospah and Antonio say many elders do not trust the health system, in part because IHS doctors cycle through hospitals quickly.

As a doctor, Zospah hopes to earn her patients’ trust.

“I understand that they had to take two hours to get to the hospital,” she says. “I understand that they had to leave their herd. I understand their situation, their lifestyle, their language.”

Studies show that minority doctors are more likely to work in underserved populations. More Native doctors means more people familiar with Native patients, Clelland says. This does not mean other doctors can’t relate to Native patients but a shared cultural life does offer a sense of familiarity, Clelland says.

While Native students can benefit their communities, they should not be expected to return home, DinéChacon says.

“I don’t expect every student to go back to the reservation,” she says. “There have to be opportunities for them to be surgeons general, academics and policy makers at the state and federal level.”

Read more: ABQJournal Online » Outreach to Indians  http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2011/08/15/health/outreach-to-indians.html

Cruise with us!

Register now for the 2012 NMDA “10th Annual CE Getaway” 7 Night Scandinavia Cruise

Click Here to Register

Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas

It’s time to prepare for our

7 Nights Scandinavia

July 7-14, 2012

Register Now Online

Registration Kits will be mailing out at the beginning of April 2012

June 13-16, 2012

2012 NMDA 103^rd Annual Session

Albuquerque Convention Center

The NMDA 103rd Annual Session and Scientific Exhibition will be held at the Albuquerque Convention Center June 13-16, 2012. Exhibit Dates, June 14-15, 2012. We are expecting a great turnout. Drs. Lee Cain and Michael Brown have lined up a group of great speakers.

“Schedule at a Glance”

Speaker Preview

Ms. Shannon Pace Brinker

Dr. Mark Hyman

Dr. Tieraona Low Dog

Dr. Michael McCuniff

Dr. Jeffrey Rouse

Ms. Laci Phillips

Dr. Gregory Psaltis

Exhibitors Information

2012 Exhibitor Contract and Floor Plan

Space Availability: All booths will be rented on a first-come, first-served basis according to the date on which the request is received in the NMDA Business Office

Payments: Credit cards accepted: Visa, MC, Discover & AMEX. Make checks payable to New Mexico Dental Association.

Mail or fax completed application and payment to:

NMDA, 9201 Montgomery, Ste 601

Albuquerque, NM 87111

Phone (505) 294-1368, Fax (505) 294-9958

Balance due March 1, 2012.

2012 Exhibitor Prospectus 103rd NMDA Annual Session

The New Mexico Dental Association agrees that accessing dental care is an important concern for New Mexicans; however, the assertion made in a recent op-ed column that lawmakers failed to pass a bill to address the issue is simply untrue.

In fact, HB187, which passed both chambers with almost no dissenting votes and was recently signed by Gov. Susana Martinez, is bold and progressive in creating innovative solutions to improve access to dental care.

The Journal editorialized in favor of this approach back in December, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, urban and rural alike, listened.

House Bill 187 is a comprehensive revision of the Dental Health Care Act that takes a multifaceted approach to improve the delivery of and access to oral health care in New Mexico. It expands the scope of dental hygienists, dental assistants and dental training programs to provide care in places and settings that previously experienced significant barriers to receiving dental care.

It also creates a new dental team member, the Community Dental Health Coordinator, who will be a community-based, culturally competent dental worker who can provide some essential emergency and preventive services as well as facilitate care by other dental team providers. The revised act further provides additional pathways for dentists and dental hygienists to be licensed in New Mexico.

These revisions have been developed over the course of a number of years from dedicated work by many New Mexico dentists, dental hygienists and policy makers. They are a responsible and realistic solution, both from the standpoint of safety and cost, to the unique geographic, cultural and fiscal issues that challenge New Mexico communities.

We believe that the tools to serve currently underserved communities, whether rural, urban, ethnic or age-related, can be found in the revised Dental Health Care Act, if these communities will avail themselves of its possibilities and are committed to finding a real and sustainable solution.

The New Mexico Dental Association welcomes dialogue on ways to further remove the barriers that make it difficult for some people to access and afford dental care.

Band-aid solutions, like the dental therapist, really cost more and create a great potential for a lower standard of care to be provided to the underserved residents of our state and very easily can result in second-class citizens in the world of access to care.

Improving Medicaid funding and ending the sales tax on dental services would make dental offices more feasible in more communities, while providing student loan forgiveness or other incentives could attract practitioners to communities in New Mexico with insufficient access.

Dental professionals and policy makers came together to support HB187. Lawmakers deserve credit for passing it, rather than criticism for failing to act on a dubious alternative.