Connecticut Post, April 20, 2008: The shame of American poverty
DR. RONALD LINDEN
Article Last Updated: 04/21/2008 05:02:24 AM EDT
I remember as a kid growing up in the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson declared a war on poverty. During that time, CBS had a news program called “CBS Reports.” One program focused on the poverty in America.
Growing up in a suburb, I then saw the images of Americans living without running water, no electricity or phone service and having just a bare shack for living quarters. It made a sharp impression on me.
It was hard to believe that in the America of two cars per family, a single-family house with the proverbial two children, a yard and a dog, that there was this whole other segment of society that seemed not to have progressed beyond the 1800s.
Of course, these were individuals from Appalachia, West Virginia, the Deep South places that were far removed from the Northeast. It seemed like it was a shame that the riches that most of the country seemed to have after World War II were not available to everyone in this country that a “War on Poverty” had to be declared to bring these people up to the standards of the rest of the country.
Fast forward to today. Connecticut, U.S.A.
Certainly there are poor people in this state people who struggle with high medical bills, home mortgages in arrears or foreclosed, having difficulty making ends meet. So what are these people to do? Cut back on their expenditures less vacation time, less impulse buying decisions, reprioritizing what they can buy now and what can be put off.
But there’s a large part of Connecticut, and indeed, the rest of the country, where these rules don’t apply. It is a population that is not just needy, but hanging on for survival. Where decisions have to be made as to what gets provided first food, medicine, shelter. Where the price of ordinary living is a day-to-day struggle a weight that probably seems unbearable.
As a dentist in Connecticut, we see patients who are having difficulties with their payments where certain dental work may have to be curtailed or postponed. Where just the necessary work can be afforded.
But what we’re not seeing in our offices are those who can’t get to our offices because they have no way of paying for any service routine, emergency or otherwise. Where they have to put up with broken teeth, split teeth, infections, toothaches, missing teeth. Where they have no government programs to support them, no clinics to go to, no hospitals that will provide them services.
How do I know that such a situation exists?
The Connecticut State Dental Association last week sponsored a two-day charitable event called “Mission of Mercy.” Hundreds of dental and other volunteers worked from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a Saturday and 5 a.m. to 12 noon on Sunday, providing free dental services on a first-come-first-served basis, no questions asked. I participated in the event and drove up on a rainy, foggy morning at 4:20 a.m. on Saturday, where I saw ghosts wandering in the dark all lined up to get dental services. Desperate people who were willing to wait half the night, in horrible weather, to be seen for whatever could be provided. We were told there would be large lines, but it felt hard to believe at first. So many people who would put up with the hardship of standing for hours for services?
As they came in, some of the stories started coming out: A person who took two buses and walked eight miles to get treatment. A woman whose mother lost all assets and was put on Medicaid; Mom then died and the bills went to the daughter, who was herself on disability. Patients who asked not to have their broken front teeth removed because they had a job interview coming up and couldn’t afford a replacement tooth. The stories went on and on.
Hundreds of people, all immensely grateful for what we did, even though what we did was a drop in the bucket of dental needs. These were not people who were putting off optional services, these were people who were hurting physically, financially and psychologically. Another America. A large group, growing bigger, falling through the cracks, who most dentists never see day to day.
Is this an America that we want? To have this kind of desperation overseas, we would be sending relief supplies. Where is the similar relief for those who are just hanging on? Maybe we don’t need another war on poverty, but we ought to re-examine how we can help those people who don’t fall neatly into an assistance program. People who badly, badly need that assistance.
Sure, dental services, when it comes to many other needs, would seem to be trivial. But project yourself with a mouth full of broken teeth, infections, pain and swelling and see if that might not make you desperate enough to do whatever it took to fix the situation. Now add to that the fact that you’re struggling with almost every other basic aspect of life.
It’s not a pretty picture, and it’s not something that our country should be tolerating.
Dr. Ronald Linden, D.D.S., has a dental practice in Shelton and has a lengthy history of volunteer and professional work in the Naugatuck Valley and state. He has served as president of the Naugatuck Valley Dental Society and as chairman of the Ethics Committee of the Connecticut State Dental Association.