THE FAILURE TO UTILIZE ORAL HEALTH CARE WORKERS BY CDC AND THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS PART-2: WILL ADD TO OUR GREATEST TRAGEDY

BY NORMAN J CLEMENT RPH, DDS

WE ARE AT WAR AND WE MUST MOBILIZE OUR ENTIRE HEALTHCARE ARMED FORCES

We are at War, and Oral Health will likely be the key to controlling the Novel Corona Virus COVID-19. Yet we have ordered a valued regiment of our healthcare armed forces home (on the sidelines). Contributing to this misguided short sidedness are both CDC and World Health Organization and their failure to mobilize those who are knowledgable of oral diseases such as dental practitioners in the testing, detection, and prevention of COVID-19 during this pandemic. Thus, resulting in prolonging this War and causing unnecessary disastrous out-comes.

Instead, in most of the United States of America and likely around the World, those who are most learned and knowledgeable of oral diseases and know the ORAL CAVITY were ordered to the sidelines and sent home to apply for SBA PPP, and watch the SARS-2, VIRUS express itself around the World.

Even more tragically, Dental Training Institutions such as The University of Michigan School of Dentistry, University of Oregon School of Dentistry, University of Florida College of Dentistry, The Ohio State College of Dentistry, Meharry Medical College Dental School, Howard University School of Dentistry are closed and shut down. The continued failure to utilize Oral Health Care practitioners and not recognize them as a part of the healthcare armed forces will become our greatest tragedy.

BETTER HEALTH THROUGH BETTER PARTNERSHIPS:

The failure to dismiss and diminish the critical role this institution could and should play has resulted in a tragic loss of life and the literal destruction of the World’s economy.

Who better to use and where better could testing, identification, and prevention procedures be performed than in the dental office. Dental Schools, private dental offices could be delivering health services as:

Large testing centers with outreach clinics to identify those testing positive or negative and coordinating their findings with a National Data Bank or even the individual State Departments of Health.
These outreach clinics, made up of the offices of private dental practitioners will then coordinate their findings with a COVID-19 National Data Bank. The information gathered would be used for analyzing, tracking and intervention (response phase) into triaging areas of the country for effective mobilization against this disease.
Dental centers and private offices would be used in the response phase for Periodontal Scaling and Root Planing, Dental Prophylaxis Hygiene and instruction.

COVID-19, is an Oral Pharyngeal Disease before it becomes a Pulmonary and Systemic Disease. Once this virus gets past your hands and into your mouth and nose, your dentist, the dental office, Dental schools must be brought on board and utilized for testing and identification preventive procedure.

POWER WILL YIELDS NOTHING WITHOUT A DEMAND

In the absence of elected Presidential leadership, it is, therefore, incumbent upon my friends at the significant dental organizations and societies such as American Dental Association(ADA), Chad P. Gehani, DDS President, South African Dental Association, Nthabiseng Metsing DDS president, American Academy of General Dentistry(AGD), Connie L. White DDS, FAGD president, National Dental Association, Sheila Armstrong, president, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) Victor L. Nannini DDS FACS, president, Hispanic Dental Association (HDA) Edwin A, del Valle-Sepulveda, DMD, JD., president American Association of Endodontist (AAE) Keith V. Krell DDS, MS., MA., president, with their cadres of well-minded highly educated people to order them off the sidelines and into the fight.

**UNITED STATES SURGEON GENERAL JEROME ADAMS MD**

“We have to bring together people who have not worked together,” says John Nichols of The Nation Magazine. “Better health through better partnerships,” says United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams, “if you make forging better partnerships better health is sure to follow.”

Dentistry must wage a highly strategic, coordinated action. Frederick Douglas’ 1857 speech best reflects our purpose in this life or death fight is for humanity, our culture and our nation in 2020, if we fail to act.

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to, and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

CONGRESS MUST INVESTIGATE THE CDC

The CDC leadership under Dr. Robert Redfield has mismanaged the world’s efforts to contain this disease by issuing faulty testing procedures and stopping small private laboratories from developing their tests. CONGRESS MUST INVESTIGATE CDC.

Dr. Robert Redfield has gone to great length to give large Chain Pharmacies . Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart such as testing centers. While those proficient in Oral Health diseases are benched on the sidelines. I imagine if Dunkin Donuts had pharmacies, they would likely be testing centers as well. CONGRESS MUST INVESTIGATE

COVID-19 TESTING INFORMATION SIGN LOCATED AT WALGREENS STORE TAMPA, FLA ON N. DALE MABRY AND FLETCHER

BRUSH YOUR TEETH AND YOUR TONGUE, FLOSS 6 TO 8 TIMES PER DAY AND RINSE 5 TO 7 TIMES PER DAY AND DON’T WAIT ON THE CDC

So, once again, along with washing your hands frequently, brushing (both teeth and tongue) flossing at least 6 to 8 times daily, you should rinse your mouth with an over-the-counter mouthwash, swish and expectorate (spit) at least 5 to 7 times daily.

The CDC nor the World Health Organization has failed to address how long this virus survives in dental plague or its relationship to poor oral hygiene. Once again, if the virus can stick to a golf flag pole several hours, it will live on dental restorations, especially poorly cared for the mouth.

GOOD ORAL HYGIENE MAY HELP SAVE YOUR LIFE

Therefore, along with washing your hands frequently, one should brush teeth and tongue, and floss at least 6 to 8 times daily, as well as rinsing your mouth with an over-the-counter mouthwash, swish, and expectorate(spit) at least 5 to 7 times daily. It may save your life.

LET DR. FAUCI BE FAUCI AND DR. JEROME ADAMS BE ADAMS

Let Dr. Tony Fauci, who advocates and urges, follow the science, and demanding increase in testing, testing, and more testing, be Fauci. Let Dr. Fauci, be Dr. Fauci.

Let the United States Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams who advocates “Better Health through Better Partnership,” be Dr. Adams. Jerome Adams MD., believes, “there is no us or them,” and

“We’ve got an opportunity, mandate to Win this game if we all figure out our roles, where we can be valuable on the field and play our part”

Dr. Adams stated. ” I have seen this throughout my career in Indiana, “I’ve seen this in the operating room and I’ve have seen it as The United States Surgeon General. ” Let The United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams be The United States Surgeon General.

(See below video US Surgeon General Jerome Adams/from the conference on mental health/opioid. crisis April 26, 2018) Let Philip Adams out of prison and into life long rehabilitation.

dac32633-4f04-4509-b7ce-0d17039e6005 “Better Health through Better Partnerships”

Most importantly, let the elected Executive non-leadership get out of the way.

When these above points become accepted, the World will prevail in defeating COVID-19.