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Performing 112,440 Dental Operations
PERFORMING 1 1 2 ,440 DENTAL OPERATIONS. The following conversation was heard on. a Northwestern train one afternoon: “Where yuh going?” asked one Blue jacket of another. “Chicago,” ' was the reply. “Have a big time, I guess?” was the second query. “Nope, not me,” with a sigh. “I gotta date with a dentist on Madison Street.” That bit of repartee showed definitely that there are some men in service ignorant of the fact that the Navy in general, and Great Lakes in particular, maintains a Dental Department that one cannot afford to slight in preference to civilian dentists. It is admitted that among some enlisted men there is a certain lack of confidence concerning the work done by the Dental Department. This feeling exists, however, only because these men know no better. Many men, upon finding out their teeth require attention, rush to a civilian, paying regular fees from their hardearned wages for the privilege, if it is a privilege. They do this without giving the Naval Dental Department a chance— that is certain. Because if they went to Dental Headquarters once they’d never go off the Station again to have the work done. Yes, this is an argument to show that it is foolish to dismiss the Naval Dental Department without a thought. Not that the department needs customers! We should say not! Last year at Great
Lakes they made 69,546 original exam inations and 112,440 operations. They are very busy and slow business isn’t the plea. The plea is simply that credit should be given in a department that has done remarkable work here— a department whose war time record was second to none in this, the World’s Greatest Naval Training Station. As Lieutenant-Commander A. F. McCreary, Senior Dental Officer, pointed out, the Navy takes its time in the matter of teeth. There is no object in hurrying; it isn’t a case of making money with the dentist. He works slowly, surely and completely. When a job is done it’s done right. In the event some error has been made, which of course, is not impossible, the job is done over again. The X-ray machine, for instance, corrects, or “catches,” a number of mistakes. This is an advantage that few civilian dentists can give you, owing to the fact that they haven’t the machine in their operating room. At Great Lakes it is used regularly and whenever a rootcanal filling goes wrong the machine discovers the shortcoming, whereupon the roots are filled over. This seems a small thing, but it saves many men hours of suffering and no end of additional trouble with the tooth. Dr. McCreary reported at Great Lakes in March, 1917. At that time he was the only dental surgeon on duty. Now
568
AR M Y AND NAVY.
take a glance at the photo showing the dental staff during the war period. Some growth! Dr. McCreary has been in charge of the dental department since he first reported and has helped it immensely by directing its great growth. From a complement of one dental surgeon it jumped to the largest dental department in the United States Navy.
569
addition to classes in advanced dental work. The success of this school was so great that it nowr seems a certainty that it will become a permanent part of the department. Owing to the signing of the armistice, the school was discontinued, but it is hoped that it will reopen as a permanent feature of the Regular Navy, the only school of its kind in existence.
O ra l S u rg e ry — A b o v e is the su p e r-o p e ra tin g room in D ental H eadqua rters. A ll ca s e s w h ich dem and s p e cia l atten tion are treated here. T h e room is fitted w ith the latest an d b e s t equipm ent. L ieu ten an t H. C. M iller is prepared to m ake an o p e ra tio n , w h ile L ieu ten an t (J. G .) A . L. B u rle ig h is assisting.
During the war the idea was conceived by the dental officer to open a school of Dentistry. This was done and two classes took the course mapped by Dr. McCreary and his assistants. The men reporting for instruction in the school were licensed dentists, but the need of teaching them the Navy way and Navy regulations was apparent. Dentists coming into service had no idea regarding the manner of conducting themselves according to military cour tesy. These regulations and “officer-like manners” were taught in the school, in
Each unit at Great Lakes has a dental operating room. Patients are received and treated here, but in the event an important operation is required he is sent to headquarters, where a superoperating room is maintained. This room is the last word in Oral Surgery. There is nothing that cannot be accomplished within its walls, the abundant equipment being of the latest and best manufacture. Any number of remarkable operations have been made in this room. And, Ship mate, if you ever have a difficult extrac-
570
TH E JOURNAL OP THE N A TION AL DENTAL ASSOCIATION.
Tom orro w at N ine. — A t this desk ap p ointm ents are m ade f o r the B lu e ja c k e ts w h ose t e e t h n eed m ending. O thers ca n be seen w a itin g u n til th e y are c a lle d b y the dentist to w hom th ey are to report.
Record
Room
— D en tal R e c ord s fo rm a p a rt o f t h e B 1 u e j ack et's h ealth record and entries, a re m ade each tim e a n yth in g is don e to his m olars.
A Big Post — L ie u tenant - com m a n der E. E. H a rris, D e n ta l E x e cu tiv e O f ficer, is a busy m an. He is an im p ortant d ir e cto r in the la rg e st D ental D epartm en t in the N avy. C h ie f Y e o m an L ittle is h is aide.
ARM Y AND NAVY.
■
571
The X -R a y s — I n m any cases the d entist can learn a g reat deal abou t his p a tie n t's co n d itio n w ith the use o f the X -r a y s , a f e a ture o f N aval d e n tis try w hich is seldom seen in civ il life . It assists in p ro v in g that the w ork h as been d on e correctly.
O u ch ! O u ch !— B u t th is B lu e ja c k e t d id n ’ t s a y that. F u r th erm ore, w hen h e l e ft th e c h a ir h e cla im e d the jo b w as a b solu tely painless.
Just a m inute— I f yo u g iv e him that long. L ie u tenant (J. G .) W alter R e h ra u er, in ch arge o f the stock room , ca n get any th in g required.
572
TH E JOURNAL OF TH E N A TION AL D EN TA L ASSOCIATION.
tion to be worked upon this is the place to go. Camp Barry has the second largest number of operating rooms, headquarters being first with seven. There are five in the Outgoing Detention Camp. This, of course, is to take care of the Recruits. When a man reports for duty one of his most important events in detention is the examination of his teeth. If necessary, they are treated. Whether or not work is done on the teeth, however, the man’s dental records are made and forwarded to headquarters. Any subsequent work on the teeth calls for an entry in these records. Each time anything at all happens to him it is included in the dental record, which is a part of the enlisted man’s health record. These are some of the few features of the Dental Department. There are probably many more, but lack of space prevents us from narrating further. The Dental Department is one of the most interesting in the Navy. There’s one especially good thing about it—you don’t have to wait in line. Go straight to the appointment desk, make the appointment, and report back at the designated time. You will then receive as good, if not better, treatment than you ever had in your life. There’s a slogan of the Great Lakes Naval Training Station Dental Depart ment which should be chronicled here before this story goes to press. It is “Don’t pull— fix.” Of course we are referring to some irate molar which needs dental attention badly. But that molar (if it should so happen to be) will be cowed into “subservience” and “obedience.” — Great Lakes Recruit, May. VICTORY BUTTON AUTHORIZED. Amendment to Circular No. 187, War Department, 1919, provides for a victory button. Paragraph 1 of the circular is amended to read as follows:
“A lapel button to be known as the victory button, for wear on civilian clothes, will be issued to all officers, enlisted men, field clerks and members of the Army Nurse Corps, who served on active duty in the Army of the United States at any time between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918, and whose service was honorable. The button will be silver for those wounded in action and bronze for all others.” — Arm y and Navy Register , May i o . BE SATISFIED. Don’t kick at the high cost of every old thing. Be glad you don’t live in Tur key. A Red Cross man writes that eggs in Constantinople are thirty cents apiece. They’re not passed by the censor, either. Bread is eighty cents a loaf, milk ninety cents a pint, butter four dollars a pound and sugar two dollars a pound. Just imagine feeding a flock of wives at those prices. Two army officers, says the Red Cross man, stopped over night and had to pay two hundred and thirty-five dol lars ($235) for lodging, breakfast and dinner. Wonder what they had to give the hat boy? DENTAL CORPS ORDERS FROM W A R DEPARTMENT. DENTAL
CORPS
M aj. F ran k B . M cA dam s to P ittsb u rg h , P a ., g e n eral h o sp ita l 24, f o r duty. Capt. A r th u r B . M cC orm ick to H obok en , N. J., p o rt o f em barkation , f o r duty. Capt. H erm an J. B ra ch m a n 36, D e tro it, M ich .
to
gen eral h osp ital
A p poin tm en ts o f fo llo w in g b y com m a nding ge n eral, A m e rica n e xp e d itio n a ry fo r c e s , F ra n ce , c o n firm ed : T o b e L ieu ten an t C olo n e ls. D en tal C orps— M ajs. Joseph A . B o a rts, G rove W . D u n h am , John M cD . E veleth, C h arles S. Jack, R ea P . M cG ee, A r c h i b a ld I. M iller, W m . H . P o tte r, W ilb e r t J. S cru to n , Joh n V o s s an d O tis H . M cD on a ld . T o b e M a jors, D en tal C orps— C apts. L a w re n ce E. A ld r ic h , E dw in C. B a k e r, E g b e rt E . B a k er, F red A . B e a ty , L lo y d Y . B eers, E d g a r T. B lo c h e r , F ran k W. B o v ille , F re d e rick J. B ro ck m a n , Jam es A . B ro w n , W a lter T. C lark, H e n ry S. D avis, W m .
Lakes they made 69,546 original exam inations and 112,440 operations. They are very busy and slow business isn’t the plea. The plea is simply that credit should be given in a department that has done remarkable work here— a department whose war time record was second to none in this, the World’s Greatest Naval Training Station. As Lieutenant-Commander A. F. McCreary, Senior Dental Officer, pointed out, the Navy takes its time in the matter of teeth. There is no object in hurrying; it isn’t a case of making money with the dentist. He works slowly, surely and completely. When a job is done it’s done right. In the event some error has been made, which of course, is not impossible, the job is done over again. The X-ray machine, for instance, corrects, or “catches,” a number of mistakes. This is an advantage that few civilian dentists can give you, owing to the fact that they haven’t the machine in their operating room. At Great Lakes it is used regularly and whenever a rootcanal filling goes wrong the machine discovers the shortcoming, whereupon the roots are filled over. This seems a small thing, but it saves many men hours of suffering and no end of additional trouble with the tooth. Dr. McCreary reported at Great Lakes in March, 1917. At that time he was the only dental surgeon on duty. Now
568
AR M Y AND NAVY.
take a glance at the photo showing the dental staff during the war period. Some growth! Dr. McCreary has been in charge of the dental department since he first reported and has helped it immensely by directing its great growth. From a complement of one dental surgeon it jumped to the largest dental department in the United States Navy.
569
addition to classes in advanced dental work. The success of this school was so great that it nowr seems a certainty that it will become a permanent part of the department. Owing to the signing of the armistice, the school was discontinued, but it is hoped that it will reopen as a permanent feature of the Regular Navy, the only school of its kind in existence.
O ra l S u rg e ry — A b o v e is the su p e r-o p e ra tin g room in D ental H eadqua rters. A ll ca s e s w h ich dem and s p e cia l atten tion are treated here. T h e room is fitted w ith the latest an d b e s t equipm ent. L ieu ten an t H. C. M iller is prepared to m ake an o p e ra tio n , w h ile L ieu ten an t (J. G .) A . L. B u rle ig h is assisting.
During the war the idea was conceived by the dental officer to open a school of Dentistry. This was done and two classes took the course mapped by Dr. McCreary and his assistants. The men reporting for instruction in the school were licensed dentists, but the need of teaching them the Navy way and Navy regulations was apparent. Dentists coming into service had no idea regarding the manner of conducting themselves according to military cour tesy. These regulations and “officer-like manners” were taught in the school, in
Each unit at Great Lakes has a dental operating room. Patients are received and treated here, but in the event an important operation is required he is sent to headquarters, where a superoperating room is maintained. This room is the last word in Oral Surgery. There is nothing that cannot be accomplished within its walls, the abundant equipment being of the latest and best manufacture. Any number of remarkable operations have been made in this room. And, Ship mate, if you ever have a difficult extrac-
570
TH E JOURNAL OP THE N A TION AL DENTAL ASSOCIATION.
Tom orro w at N ine. — A t this desk ap p ointm ents are m ade f o r the B lu e ja c k e ts w h ose t e e t h n eed m ending. O thers ca n be seen w a itin g u n til th e y are c a lle d b y the dentist to w hom th ey are to report.
Record
Room
— D en tal R e c ord s fo rm a p a rt o f t h e B 1 u e j ack et's h ealth record and entries, a re m ade each tim e a n yth in g is don e to his m olars.
A Big Post — L ie u tenant - com m a n der E. E. H a rris, D e n ta l E x e cu tiv e O f ficer, is a busy m an. He is an im p ortant d ir e cto r in the la rg e st D ental D epartm en t in the N avy. C h ie f Y e o m an L ittle is h is aide.
ARM Y AND NAVY.
■
571
The X -R a y s — I n m any cases the d entist can learn a g reat deal abou t his p a tie n t's co n d itio n w ith the use o f the X -r a y s , a f e a ture o f N aval d e n tis try w hich is seldom seen in civ il life . It assists in p ro v in g that the w ork h as been d on e correctly.
O u ch ! O u ch !— B u t th is B lu e ja c k e t d id n ’ t s a y that. F u r th erm ore, w hen h e l e ft th e c h a ir h e cla im e d the jo b w as a b solu tely painless.
Just a m inute— I f yo u g iv e him that long. L ie u tenant (J. G .) W alter R e h ra u er, in ch arge o f the stock room , ca n get any th in g required.
572
TH E JOURNAL OF TH E N A TION AL D EN TA L ASSOCIATION.
tion to be worked upon this is the place to go. Camp Barry has the second largest number of operating rooms, headquarters being first with seven. There are five in the Outgoing Detention Camp. This, of course, is to take care of the Recruits. When a man reports for duty one of his most important events in detention is the examination of his teeth. If necessary, they are treated. Whether or not work is done on the teeth, however, the man’s dental records are made and forwarded to headquarters. Any subsequent work on the teeth calls for an entry in these records. Each time anything at all happens to him it is included in the dental record, which is a part of the enlisted man’s health record. These are some of the few features of the Dental Department. There are probably many more, but lack of space prevents us from narrating further. The Dental Department is one of the most interesting in the Navy. There’s one especially good thing about it—you don’t have to wait in line. Go straight to the appointment desk, make the appointment, and report back at the designated time. You will then receive as good, if not better, treatment than you ever had in your life. There’s a slogan of the Great Lakes Naval Training Station Dental Depart ment which should be chronicled here before this story goes to press. It is “Don’t pull— fix.” Of course we are referring to some irate molar which needs dental attention badly. But that molar (if it should so happen to be) will be cowed into “subservience” and “obedience.” — Great Lakes Recruit, May. VICTORY BUTTON AUTHORIZED. Amendment to Circular No. 187, War Department, 1919, provides for a victory button. Paragraph 1 of the circular is amended to read as follows:
“A lapel button to be known as the victory button, for wear on civilian clothes, will be issued to all officers, enlisted men, field clerks and members of the Army Nurse Corps, who served on active duty in the Army of the United States at any time between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918, and whose service was honorable. The button will be silver for those wounded in action and bronze for all others.” — Arm y and Navy Register , May i o . BE SATISFIED. Don’t kick at the high cost of every old thing. Be glad you don’t live in Tur key. A Red Cross man writes that eggs in Constantinople are thirty cents apiece. They’re not passed by the censor, either. Bread is eighty cents a loaf, milk ninety cents a pint, butter four dollars a pound and sugar two dollars a pound. Just imagine feeding a flock of wives at those prices. Two army officers, says the Red Cross man, stopped over night and had to pay two hundred and thirty-five dol lars ($235) for lodging, breakfast and dinner. Wonder what they had to give the hat boy? DENTAL CORPS ORDERS FROM W A R DEPARTMENT. DENTAL
CORPS
M aj. F ran k B . M cA dam s to P ittsb u rg h , P a ., g e n eral h o sp ita l 24, f o r duty. Capt. A r th u r B . M cC orm ick to H obok en , N. J., p o rt o f em barkation , f o r duty. Capt. H erm an J. B ra ch m a n 36, D e tro it, M ich .
to
gen eral h osp ital
A p poin tm en ts o f fo llo w in g b y com m a nding ge n eral, A m e rica n e xp e d itio n a ry fo r c e s , F ra n ce , c o n firm ed : T o b e L ieu ten an t C olo n e ls. D en tal C orps— M ajs. Joseph A . B o a rts, G rove W . D u n h am , John M cD . E veleth, C h arles S. Jack, R ea P . M cG ee, A r c h i b a ld I. M iller, W m . H . P o tte r, W ilb e r t J. S cru to n , Joh n V o s s an d O tis H . M cD on a ld . T o b e M a jors, D en tal C orps— C apts. L a w re n ce E. A ld r ic h , E dw in C. B a k e r, E g b e rt E . B a k er, F red A . B e a ty , L lo y d Y . B eers, E d g a r T. B lo c h e r , F ran k W. B o v ille , F re d e rick J. B ro ck m a n , Jam es A . B ro w n , W a lter T. C lark, H e n ry S. D avis, W m .