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Michigan Dental Association, Grand Rapids, MI, April 10, 1970
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Michigan Dental Association, Grand Rapids, MI, April 10, 1970
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The original documents are located in Box D28, folder "Michigan Dental Association,
Grand Rapids, MI, April 10, 1970" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and
Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
ICHIGAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION, PANTLIND HOTEL,
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, FRIDAY EVENING
APRIL 10, 1970.
11
Gream
Initation
Tanks
mainty
Maham
Billy
Romantic
abom
WHEN I FIRST LEARNED I WAS TO BE
YOUR SPEAKER FOR THIS EVENING, I IMMEDIATELY
ASKED MYSELF WHAT ONE TALKS ABOUT WITH A
GROUP OF DENTISTS. after all the pain 2 have
sufford, at your offende, NEVER 2 onght HAVE have THAT some PROBLEM WITH
MY OWN DENTIST, OF COURSE. HE ALWAYS HAS
MY MOUTH SO FULL OF INSTRUMENTS AND OTHER
PARAPHERNALIA THAT ALL I CAN DO IS ROLL MY
EYES AT HIM AND SAY, "UGH."
THE TRUTH IS THAT MY DENTIST IS
DOING SO WELL FINANCIALLY HE TRIES TO
DISCOURAGE ME FROM HAVING ANY WORK DONE ON
MY TEETH. NOW, THERE'S AN HONEST MAN.
A
NATURALLY, I AND OTHERS WILL
TALK ABOUT FLUORIDATION TONIGHT SINCE GRAND
GERAL
LIBRARY
RAPIDS HAS THE DISTINCTION OF BEING THE
Digitized from Box D28 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
FIRST COMMUNITY IN THE WORLD TO FLUORIDATE
ITS MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY AND THIS YEAR
MARKS THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INITIAL
EXPERTMENT
FLUORIDATION OF A MUNICIPAL WATER
SUPPLY WAS AN ACT OF BRAVERY A QUARTER
CENTURY AGO. I CAN REMEMBER WHEN ALL KINDS
OF WELL-MEANING PEOPLE RAISED ALARMS ABOUT
FLUORIDES AND DECLARED THAT ANY COMMUNITY
PUTTING THE STUFF INTO ITS WATER WAS
POISONING THE TOWN S ENTIRE POPULATION.
SOME OF THEM STILL TALK LIKE THAT.
BUT GRAND RAPIDS HAS BEEN A
LEADER IN MANY WAYS -- AND SO OUR
ENLIGHTENED CITIZENRY MOVED AHEAD WITH
FLUORIDATION AND BECAME THE PIONEER IN THE
FIELD. I CONGRATULATE THE PEOPLE OF GRAND
RAPIDS TONIGHT FOR THEIR EARLY ACCEPTANCE
OF A PRACTICE WHICH IS CLEARLY A BOON TO
DENTAL HEALTH AND CARRIES NO RISKS TO
-3-
PHYSICAL WELL-BEING WHEN PROPERLY CARRIED
OUT.
I MIGHT ALSO POINT OUT THAT
PRESIDENT NIXON CITED GRAND RAPIDS IN A
PROCLAMATION LAST JAN. 17 MARKING THE
SILVER ANNIVERSARY OF FLUORIDATION IN THE
NATION. THE PRESIDENT SAID, "WHEN GRAND
RAPIDS, MICHIGAN AND NEWBURGH, N.Y.,
PIONEERED IN THIS ENDEAVOR, THEY HELPED
TO IMPROVE THE DENTAL HEALTH OF THEIR
CITIZENS AND TO ESTABLISH THE MEDICAL
SAFETY, ECONOMY AND EFFICACY OF COMMUNITY
FLUORIDATION AS A MAJOR NATIONAL WEAPON AGAINST
DENTAL DISEASE."
EARLIER, ON FEB. 2, 1969, THE
PRESIDENT RECITED THE BENEFITS OF
FLUORIDATION AND DECLARED, "IT IS WELL
THAT WE NOW REAFFIRM OUR GOAL OF OPENING
FOR ALL OUR CHILDREN A READY ACCESS BOTH
TO PREVENTIVE MEASURES SUCH AS FLUORIDATION,
?
-4-
AND TO A FULL REGIMEN OF PERSONAL DENTAL
CARE. I KNOW THAT ALL OF MY FELLOW
AMERICANS JOIN ME IN THIS COMMITMENT AND IN
THE TASK OF CARRYING IT THROUGH."
NOW THAT I HAVE COMMENTED ON
FLUORIDATION, I COULD TALK ABOUT THE
ADMINISTRATION'S
NEW FAMILY ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM OR NS REVENUE-SHARING PLAN. BUT
I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT MEMBERS OF THE
MICHIGAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION HERE ASSEMBLED
WOULD LIKE ME TO DISCUSS MATTERS OF HEALTH.
THAT REMINDS ME OF THE CHAUFFEUR
WHO SAVED UP HIS VACATION TIME UNTIL HE
HAD FOUR WEEKS COMING. KNOW HOW HE SPENT
IT?
DRIVING HIS WIFE FROM ONE END OF THE
COUNTRY TO THE OTHER.
BUT THERE IS A TIME TO BE
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
SERIOUS, AND THAT MOMENT HAS ARRIVED.
MATTERS OF HEALTH ARE INDEED A MAJOR
PROBLEM IN AMERICA TODAY. IN FACT, WE
-5-
ARE IN THE MIDST OF A HEALTH CRISIS.
THE CRISIS IS A MOST COMPLEX
ONE. IT INVOLVES SHARPLY RISING COSTS.
IT INVOLVES, TOO, "THE SYSTEM."
WE MUST IMPROVE THE SYSTEM BY
WHICH HEALTH CARE IS PROVIDED IN AMERICA
TODAY. WE MUST PROVIDE A VIRTUALLY NEW
SYSTEM, OR HEALTH CARE IN THIS COUNTRY WILL
DETERIORATE DESPITE GREATLY INCREASED COSTS
AND MASSIVE INCREASES IN NUMBERS OF HEALTH
PERSONNEL. Frothermore The problem will multiply
Respite The hard work and didected service There in
I AM TALKING ABOUT THE NEED FOR
the
dental
THE HEALTH RESOURCES IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR properm
TO RESHAPE THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. UNLESS
THEY DO SO, THE CRISIS OF THIS DECADE MAY
BECOME THE CALAMITY OF THE NEXT.
I AM CONVINCED THAT THE DECADE
LIBRARY
OF THE SEVENTIES WILL PROVE CRUCIAL FOR THE
DENTAL PROFESSION AND FOR THE DENTAL HEALTH
OF FUTURE GENERATIONS.
-6-
PART OF THE ANSWER TO THE CRISIS
LIES IN DENTAL RESEARCH.
ALL OF YOU KNOW, FOR INSTANCE,
THAT MOST OF THE QUESTIONS SURROUNDING THE
CAUSE, PREVENTION AND CURE OF DENTAL
DISEASE HAVE HARDLY BEGUN TO BE ANSWERED.
SUCH MEASURES OF DENTAL DISEASE
PREVENTION AND CONTROL AS AMERICA BOASTS
HAVE NOT YET BEEN FULLY EXPLOITED.
FLUORIDATION IS PERHAPS THE BEST EXAMPLE OF
OUR FAILURE TO GET THE MOST FROM A DISEASE
PREVENTION PROGRAM. ONLY 55.9 PER CENT
OF THOSE AMERICANS SERVED BY PUBLIC WATER
SUPPLIES RECEIVE FLUORIDATED WATER. I MIGHT
MENTION WITH PARDONABLE PRIDE, HOWEVER, THAT
FOR MICHIGAN THE FIGURE IS NEARLY 90 PER CENT.
THERE ARE OTHER FAILURES.
INTENSIVE ORAL HYGIENE PRACTICE IN RELATION
FORD
.no
TO PERIODONTAL DISEASE IS ONE OF THEM.
IT
GER
LIBRARY
IS AN OBVIOUS AND SIGNIFICANT LAPSE WHICH
-7-
MUST NOT BE OVERLOOKED.
EXPEDIENCE, IF NOTHING ELSE,
DEMANDS THAT PREVENTIVE SERVICES SHOULD
BECOME A MAJOR FACTOR IN PROFESSIONAL
PLANNING AND ACTION AGAINST DENTAL DISEASE.
YET MOST DENTISTS ARE STILL OVERWHELMINGLY
ORIENTED TO REMEDIAL RATHER THAN PREVENTIVE
PRACTICE. DENTISTS ALSO WORK PRIMARILY AS
SOLOISTS, ALTHOUGH THE LOGIC OF THE SERVICE
SUPPLY SITUATION INDICATES A NEED FOR MORE
PRODUCTIVE METHODS OF PRACTICE.
THERE IS NO QUESTION IN MY MIND
THAT THE TECHNICAL EXPERTISE OF AMERICAN
DENTISTS IS THE GREATEST IN THE WORLD. BUT,
AS WE USED TO SAY ON THE UNIVERSITY OF
MICHIGAN FOOTBALL TEAMS I PLAYED ON, YOU VE
GOT TO DELIVER. AND THE AMERICAN DENTISTRY
TEAM'S DELIVERY SYSTEM IS NOT SATISFACTORY.
FORD
THE DELIVERY SYSTEM IS GENERALLY
LIBRARY
CONDEMNED AS OBSOLESCENT. SOME CRITICS GO
-8-
SO FAR AS TO SAY A "SYSTEM" DOESN'T EVEN
EXIST. IN ANY CASE, THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT
MANY MORE PEOPLE GO WITHOUT DENTAL SERVICES
THAN RECEIVE THEM.
NOW, WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT?
IT IS A CHALLENGE WHICH I THINK
CAN BE MET ONLY IF DENTISTS ACCEPT THE IDEA
OF PARTNERSHIP -- A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. A PARTNERSHIP WHICH IS
FASHIONED OUT OF MUTUAL CONCERN FOR THE
DENTAL HEALTH OF THE INDIVIDUAL AMERICAN
CITIZEN.
WHEN THE FEDERAL ROLE IN HEALTH
?
CARE IS MENTIONED TODAY, MOST PEOPLE THINK
IMMEDIATELY OF MEDICARE AND MEDICAID -- AND
PROBABLY LITTLE ELSE. It me say 2 don't smily such
a
BUT BEHIND THE FEDERAL CARE
partnershy.
PROGRAMS ARE A HOST OF OTHER FEDERALLY
FORD i LIBRARY GERALD
SUPPORTED PROGRAMS OF DIRECT CONCERN TO
DENTISTS AND AMERICAN CONSUMERS: EDUCATION
-9-
AND MANPOWER PROGRAMS TO PROVIDE MORE
DENTISTS AND AUXILIARIES, SCREENING FOR
ORAL CANCER AND PERIODONTAL DISEASE,
CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR PRACTITIONERS,
TEACHERS AND DENTAL RESEARCHERS, ORAL
SCIENCE RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY, APPLIED
RESEARCH TO INCREASE THE PRACTITIONER
SKILL AND PRODUCTIVITY, AND PREVENTIVE
PROGRAMS LIKE COMMUNITY FLUORIDATION.
LET ME POINT OUT THAT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN DENTISTRY SCHOOL HAS
JUST RECEIVED A FEDERAL GRANT OF
$227,500 AND THE UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT
DENTISTRY SCHOOL $184,500 UNDER THE
CONTINUING FEDERAL HEALTH PROFESSIONS
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. IN THAT
CONNECTION, I NOTE THAT THE COSTS OF
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING ARE GOING UP AT A
FRIGHTENING RATE.
FORD LIBRARY & GERALD
TODAY, BOTH THE GOVERNMENT AND
-10-
THE DENTAL PROFESSION ARE CENTERING THEIR
CONCERN ON THREE OVERRIDING CONSIDERATIONS
IN THE AREA OF DENTAL CARE: THE LAG IN
DENTAL RESEARCH, BOTH BASIC AND APPLIED
THE SHORTAGE OF PROFESSIONAL MANPOWER,
TOGETHER WITH RELATED PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION,
DISTRIBUTION AND UTILIZATION; AND THE
INACCESSIBILITY OF ADEQUATE DENTAL HEALTH
PROTECTION FOR LARGE NUMBERS OF AMERICANS.
I PROMISE YOU THAT THE PRESENT
ADMINISTRATION WILL SUPPORT FORWARD-LOOKING
ACTION IN ALL OF THESE AREAS.
A GOOD BEGINNING HAS ALREADY BEEN
MADE. THE CHIEF EXAMPLE THAT COMES TO MIND
IS IN THE FIELD OF RESEARCH. LET ME POINT
OUT THAT THE PRESIDENT'S FISCAL 1971 BUDGET
n
ALLOCATES AN ADDITIONAL $5 MILLION FOR THE
FIGHT TO ELIMINATE DENTAL CARIES.
GERALD
IN THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION,
DENTISTRY WILL AT LAST RECE1VE THE CONCERTED
-11-
AND IMAGINATIVE SUPPORT IT DESERVES.
WHAT MAKES THE $5 MILLION
ADDITIONAL FOR RESEARCH ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT
IS THAT IT WILL BE USED TO SUPPORT A BROAD
SPECTRUM OF ACTIVITIES FOR BOTH BASIC
RESEARCH AND RESEARCH IN THE APPLICATION OF
BASIC FINDINGS
THE ATTENTION OF ANYONE COMMITTED
TO THE CAUSE OF DENTAL HEALTH SHOULD ALSO
FOCUS ON MANPOWER. THAT, IN MY JUDGMENT,
IS THE CORE PROBLEM.
THE SHORTAGE OF DENTISTS IS
TREMENDOUS. BUT I DON T BELIEVE WE CAN
SOLVE THE PROBLEM SIMPLY BY INCREASING THE
NUMBER OF DENTISTS. I SAY THAT BECAUSE TO
MEET THE NEED WE WOULD HAVE TO PRODUCE SOME
168,000 PRACTITIONERS IN 10 YEARS TIME.
WELL, THAT OF COURSE IS OUTSIDE THE REALM
OF POSSIBILITY.
GERALD R. LIS848Y FORD
SO WHAT CAN BE DONE ? WE MUST
-12-
NEARLY DOUBLE THE PRESENT DENTAL
CAPABILITY BY THE 1980s. WE MUST REACH
FOR HIGHER LEVELS OF PRODUCTIVITY. WE MUST
ASK WHAT THE DENTIST OF THE FUTURE SHOULD
BE LIKE -- HOW HE SHOULD FUNCTION TO MEET
HIS FULL RESPONSIBILITY TO SOCIETY.
MORE SCHOOLS OF DENTISTRY SHOULD
BECOME INVOLVED IN MEETING THE HEALTH NEEDS
OF THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES AND AREAS. DENTAL
STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY, FOR
INSTANCE, HAVE TAKEN DENTAL CARE TO THE
CITIZENS OF RURAL WOLFE COUNTY ON WHEELS
BECAUSE THEY RECOGNIZE THAT DENTAL
DEPRIVATION IS FOUND MOST COMMONLY AMONG
THE POOR AND THE ISOLATED.
COMMUNITY DENTISTRY WILL REQUIRE --
AND SHOULD BEGIN TO EDUCATE -- ITS OWN
BRAND OF SPECIALISTS -- SPECIALISTS WHO ARE
FORD
EXPERTS IN THE DESIGN AND ADMINISTRATION
LIBRARY
OF CARE PROGRAMS, AND CARE AND DELIVERY
-13-
SYSTEMS RESEARCHERS.
WE SHOULD ALSO SERIOUSLY EXPLORE
THE POSSIBILITY OF IMPROVING DENTAL
PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH EXPANSION OF GROUP
AND MULTI-DISCIPLINARY PRACTICE. AT THE
SAME TIME WE MUST DEVELOP THE MEANS TO KEEP
PRACTITIONERS ABREAST OF ADVANCES IN
TECHNOLOGY, MATERIALS, AND RESEARCH
APPLICATION.
MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL -- IN THE
DECADE AHEAD OF US -- WE MUST MOVE TO A FAR
MORE EXTENSIVE USE OF AUXILIARY PERSONNEL
IN PROVIDING DENTAL CARE SERVICES.
THIS INVOLVES REORIENTATION. IT
WILL NOT BE EASY. THE UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOL
WILL HAVE TO TAKE THE LEAD, BUT CONTINUING
EDUCATION WILL ALSO OCCUPY A CENTRAL PLACE
IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS.
DERALD FORD LIBRARY
THERE IS NO GREATER THREAT TO
QUALITY OF CARE THAN AN INADEQUATE SUPPLY OF
-14-
SERVICES. THE NATION FACES PRECISELY THAT
THREAT, AND THAT IS WHY THE USE OF DENTAL
AUXILIARIES HAS BECOME A CENTRAL FACTOR IN
DENTAL MANPOWER PLANNING.
AS YOU KNOW, A DENTIST TODAY
DEVOTES A GREAT PORTION OF HIS TIME TO
ROUTINE JOBS THAT COULD BE DONE JUST AS
WELL BY SOMEONE WITH FAR LESS TRAINING.
THIS MEANS THAT DENTISTS ARE DENYING
PATIENTS THE BENEFITS OF THE HIGHEST
EXERCISE OF THEIR MOST VALUABLE SKILLS.
THIS IS WHY THE DEPARTMENT OF
HEALTH, EDUCATION AND WELFARE IS SUPPORTING
DENTAL AUXILIARY UTILIZATION TRAINING
PROGRAMS IN ALL THE NATION'S DENTAL SCHOOLS.
AND WHERE THESE PROGRAMS HAVE CONCENTRATED
ON THE TRADITIONAL SINGLE AUXILIARY, THEY
SHOULD NOW BE BROADENED TO INCLUDE MULTIPLE
AUXILIARIES PERFORMING EXPANDED FUNCTIONS.
ADVESIT
WHY? BECAUSE AS I MENTIONED
-15-
EARLIER WE MUST DOUBLE THE AVAILABILITY OF
DENTAL SERVICES BY 1980.
THERE MAY BE SOME WHO DOUBT THE
NEED FOR SUCH AN EXPANSION. I AM NOT ONE
OF THEM. LET ME POINT FIRST OF ALL TO THE
FACT OF MEDICAID AND OTHER PUBLICLY
SUPPORTED COMMITMENTS TO DENTAL CARE. AND
BEYOND THE PUBLICLY SUPPORTED PROGRAMS WE
HAVE AN ACCELERATION OF PRIVATELY SUPPORTED
PREPAID DENTAL CARE PROGRAMS.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL DO ITS
PART IN COOPERATION WITH THE STATES AND THE
PROFESSION TO BRING ABOUT NEW ADVANCES IN
DENTAL CARE.
THE PRESENT OBSOLESCENT DELIVERY
SYSTEM MUST NOT REMAIN AS AN INSURMOUNTABLE
BARRIER BETWEEN THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY
AND THE DENTAL CARE THEY NEED AND DESERVE.
RESPONSIBLE PUBLIC OFFICIALS ARE
DETERMINED THAT THIS SHALL NOT HAPPEN
-16-
WE KNOW THAT DENTISTRY HAS A GREAT
HERITAGE.
THE DENTAL PROFESSION HAS
CONSISTENTLY BEEN RESPONSIVE TO CHANGING
NEEDS AND IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN OPEN TO
INNOVATION.
THAT IS WHY I SAY THAT YOU WILL
CONTINUE TO PROGRESS AND THAT WORKING
TOGETHER WE WILL MOVE FORWARD INTO A NEW
DECADE OF EVER GREATER ACHIEVEMENT.
END : :
FORD LIBRARY 'y GERALD
Distribution: 20 copier Mr. Ford
M office Copy
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE THE MICHIGAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION
AT THE PANTLIND HOTEL
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 10, 1970
FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M., FRIDAY
When I first learned I was to be your speaker for this evening, I immediately
asked myself what one talks about with a group of dentists.
I never have that problem with my own dentist, of course. He always has my
mouth so full of instruments and other paraphernalia that all I can do is roll my
eyes at him and say, "ugh."
The truth is that my dentist is doing so well financially he tries to
discourage me from having any work done on my teeth. Now, there's an honest man!
Naturally, I and others will talk about fluoridation tonight since Grand
Rapids has the distinction of being the first community in the world to fluoridate
its municipal water supply, and this year marks the 25th anniversary of the initial
experiment.
Fluoridation of a municipal water supply was an act of bravery a quarter
century ago. I can remember when all kinds of well-meaning people raised alarms
about fluorides and declared that any community putting the stuff into its water
was poisoning the town's entire population. Some of them still talk like that.
But Grand Rapids has been a leader in many ways and so our enlightened
citizenry moved ahead with fluoridation and became the pioneer in the field. I
congratulate the people of Grand Rapids tonight for their early acceptance of a
practice which is clearly a boon to dental health and carries no risks to physical
well-being when properly carried out.
I might also point out that President Nixon cited Grand Rapids in a
proclamation last Jan. 17 marking the silver anniversary of fluoridation in the
Nation. The President said: "When Grand Rapids, Michigan and Newburgh, N.Y.,
pioneered in this endeavor, they helped to improve the dental health of their
citizens and to establish the medical safety, economy and efficacy of community
fluoridation as a major national weapon against dental disease."
Earlier, on Feb. 2, 1969, the President recited the benefits of fluoridation
and declared: "It is well that we now reaffirm our goal of opening for all our
(more)
1 GERALD LIBRARY
-2-
children a ready access both to preventive measures such as fluoridation, and to a
full regimen of personal dental care. I know that all of my fellow Americans join
me in this commitment and in the task of carrying it through."
Now that I have commented on fluoridation, I could talk about the
Administration's new Family Assistance Program or its revenue-sharing plan. But
I have been told that members of the Michigan Dental Association here assembled
would like me to discuss matters of health.
That reminds me of the chauffeur who saved up his vacation time until he had
four weeks coming. Know how he spent it? Driving his wife from one end of the
country to the other.
But there IS a time to be serious, and that moment has arrived. Matters of
health are indeed a major problem in America today. In fact, we are in the midst
of a health crisis.
The crisis is a most complex one. It involves sharply rising costs. It
involves, too, "the system."
We must improve the system by which health care is provided in America today.
We must provide a virtually new system, or health care in this country will
deteriorate despite greatly increased costs and massive increases in numbers of
health personnel.
I am talking about the need for the health resources in the private sector
to reshape the health care system. Unless they do so, the crisis of this decade
may become the calamity of the next.
I am convinced that the decade of the Seventies will prove crucial for the
dental profession and for the dental health of future generations.
Part of the answer to the crisis lies in dental research.
All of you know, for instance, that most of the questions surrounding the
cause, prevention and cure of dental disease have hardly begun to be answered.
Such measures of dental disease prevention and control as America boasts
have not yet been fully exploited. Fluoridation is perhaps the best example of
our failure to get the most from a disease prevention program. Only 55.9 per cent
of those Americans served by public water supplies receive fluoridated water. I
might mention with pardonable pride, however, that for Michigan the figure is
nearly 90 per cent.
There are other failures. Intensive oral hygiene practice in relation to
periodontal disease is one of them. It is an obvious and significant lapse which
must not be overlooked.
(more)
-3-
Expedience, if nothing else, demands that preventive services should become
a major factor in professional planning and action against dental disease. Yet
most dentists are still overwhelmingly oriented to remedial rather than preventive
practice. Dentists also work primarily as soloists, although the logic of the
service supply situation indicates a need for more productive methods of practice.
There is no question in my mind that the technical expertise of American
dentists is the greatest in the world. But, as we used to say on the University
of Michigan football teams I played on, you've got to deliver. And the American
dentistry team's delivery system is not satisfactory.
The delivery system is generally condemned as obsolescent. Some critics go
so far as to say a "system" doesn't even exist. In any case, there is no doubt
that many more people go without dental services than receive them.
Now, what can be done about it?
It is a challenge which I think can be met only if dentists accept the idea
of partnership -- a partnership with the Federal Government, a partnership which is
fashioned out of mutual concern for the dental health of the individual American
citizen.
When the Federal role in health care is mentioned today, most people think
immediately of Medicare and Medicaid -- and probably little else.
But behind the Federal care programs are a host of other Federally supported
programs of direct concern to dentists and American consumers: education and
manpower programs to provide more dentists and auxiliaries; screening for oral
cancer and periodontal disease; continuing education for practitioners, teachers and
dental researchers; oral science research and technology; applied research to
increase the practitioner's skill and productivity; and preventive programs like
community fluoridation.
Let me point out that the University of Michigan Dentistry School has just
received a Federal grant of $227,500 and the University of Detroit Dentistry School
$184,500 under the continuing Federal Health Professions Educational Improvement
Program. In that connection, I note that the costs of professional training are
going up at a frightening rate.
Today, both the Government and the dental profession are centering their
concern on three overriding considerations in the area of dental care: the lag
in dental research, both basic and applied; the shortage of profesisonal manpower,
together with related problems in education, distribution and utilization; and the
(more)
-4-
inaccessibility of adequate dental health protection for large numbers of
Americans.
I promise you that the present Administration will support forward-looking
action in all of these areas.
A good beginning has already been made. The chief example that comes to
mind is in the field of research. Let me point out that the President's fiscal
1971 budget allocates an additional $5 million for the fight to eliminate dental
caries.
In the Nixon Administration dentistry will at last receive the concerted
and imaginative support it deserves.
What makes the $5 million additional for research especially important is
that it will be used to support a broad spectrum of activities for both basic
research and research in the application of basic findings.
The attention of anyone committed to the cause of dental health should also
focus on manpower. That, in my judgment, is the core problem.
The shortage of dentists is tremendous. But I don't believe we can solve
the problem simply by increasing the number of dentists. I say that because to meet
the need we would have to produce some 168,000 practitioners in 10 years time. Well,
that of course is outside the realm of possibility.
So what can be done? We must nearly double the present dental capability
by the 1980s. We must reach for higher levels of productivity.
We must ask what the dentist of the future should be like -- how he should
function to meet his full responsibility to society.
More schools of dentistry should become involved in meeting the health needs
of their own communities and areas. Dental students of the University of Kentucky,
for instance, have taken dental care to the citizens of rural Wolfe County on
wheels because they recognize that dental deprivation is found most commonly among
the poor and the isolated.
Community dentistry will require -- and should begin to educate -- its own
brand of specialists -- specialists who are experts in the design and administration
of care programs, and care and delivery systems researchers.
We should also seriously explore the possibility of improving dental
productivity through expansion of group and multi-disciplinary practice. At the
same time we must develop the means to keep practitioners abreast of advances in
technology, materials, and research application.
(more)
-5-
Most important of all -- in the decade ahead of us -- we must move to a far
more extensive use of auxiliary personnel in providing dental care services.
This involves reorientation. It will not be easy. The undergraduate school
will have to take the lead, but continuing education will also occupy a central
place in the scheme of things.
There is no greater threat to quality of care than an inadequate supply of
services. The Nation faces precisely that threat, and that is why the use of
dental auxiliaries has become a central factor in dental manpower planning.
As you know, a dentist today devotes a great portion of his time to routine
jobs that could be done just as well by someone with far less training. This means
that dentists are denying patients the benefits of the highest exercise of their
most valuable skills.
This is why the Department of Health, Education and Welfare is supporting
Dental Auxiliary Utilization training programs in all the Nation's dental schools.
And where these programs have concentrated on the traditional single auxiliary,
they should now be broadened to include multiple auxiliaries performing expanded
functions.
Why? Because as I mentioned earlier we must double the availability of
dental services by 1980.
There may be some who doubt the need for such an expansion. I am not one
of them. Let me point first of all to the fact of Medicaid and other publicly
supported commitments to dental care. And beyond the publicly supported programs
we have an acceleration of privately supported prepaid dental care programs.
The Federal Government will do its part in cooperation with the states and
the profession to bring about new advances in dental care.
The present obsolescent delivery system must not remain as an insurmountable
barrier between the people of this country and the dental care they need and
deserve.
Responsible public officials are determined that this shall not happen.
We know that dentistry has a great heritage. The dental profession has
consistently been responsive to changing needs and it has always been open to
innovation.
That is why I say that you will continue to progress and that working
together we will move forward into a new decade of ever greater achievement.
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20 copies to m. Ford only
O office Copy
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE THE MICHIGAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION
AT THE PANTLIND HOTEL
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 10, 1970
FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M., FRIDAY
When I first learned I was to be your speaker for this evening, I immediately
asked myself what one talks about with a group of dentists.
I never have that problem with my own dentist, of course. He always has my
mouth so full of instruments and other paraphernalia that all I can do is roll my
eyes at him and say, "ugh."
The truth is that my dentist is doing so well financially he tries to
discourage me from having any work done on my teeth. Now, there's an honest man!
Naturally, I and others will talk about fluoridation tonight since Grand
Rapids has the distinction of being the first community in the world to fluoridate
its municipal water supply, and this year marks the 25th anniversary of the initial
experiment.
Fluoridation of a municipal water supply was an act of bravery a quarter
century ago. I can remember when all kinds of well-meaning people raised alarms
about fluorides and declared that any community putting the stuff into its water
was poisoning the town's entire population. Some of them still talk like that.
But Grand Rapids has been a leader in many ways -- and so our enlightened
citizenry moved ahead with fluoridation and became the pioneer in the field. I
congratulate the people of Grand Rapids tonight for their early acceptance of a
practice which is clearly a boon to dental health and carries no risks to physical
well-being when properly carried out.
I might also point out that President Nixon cited Grand Rapids in a
proclamation last Jan. 17 marking the silver anniversary of fluoridation in the
Nation. The President said: "When Grand Rapids, Michigan and Newburgh, N.Y.,
pioneered in this endeavor, they helped to improve the dental health of their
citizens and to establish the medical safety, economy and efficacy of community
fluoridation as a major national weapon against dental disease."
Earlier, on Feb. 2, 1969, the President recited the benefits of fluoridation
and declared: "It is well that we now reaffirm our goal of opening for all
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children a ready access both to preventive measures such as fluoridation, and to a
full regimen of personal dental care. I know that all of my fellow Americans join
me in this commitment and in the task of carrying it through."
Now that I have commented on fluoridation, I could talk about the
Administration's new Family Assistance Program or its revenue-sharing plan. But
I have been told that members of the Michigan Dental Association here assembled
would like me to discuss matters of health.
That reminds me of the chauffeur who saved up his vacation time until he had
four weeks coming. Know how he spent it? Driving his wife from one end of the
country to the other.
But there IS a time to be serious, and that moment has arrived. Matters of
health are indeed a major problem in America today. In fact, we are in the midst
of a health crisis.
The crisis is a most complex one. It involves sharply rising costs. It
involves, too, "the system."
We must improve the system by which health care is provided in America today.
We must provide a virtually new system, or health care in this country will
deteriorate despite greatly increased costs and massive increases in numbers of
health personnel.
I am talking about the need for the health resources in the private sector
to reshape the health care system. Unless they do so, the crisis of this decade
may become the calamity of the next.
I am convinced that the decade of the Seventies will prove crucial for the
dental profession and for the dental health of future generations.
Part of the answer to the crisis lies in dental research.
All of you know, for instance, that most of the questions surrounding the
cause, prevention and cure of dental disease have hardly begun to be answered.
Such measures of dental disease prevention and control as America boasts
have not yet been fully exploited. Fluoridation is perhaps the best example of
our failure to get the most from a disease prevention program. Only 55.9 per cent
of those Americans served by public water supplies receive fluoridated water. I
might mention with pardonable pride, however, that for Michigan the figure is
nearly 90 per cent.
There are other failures. Intensive oral hygiene practice in relation to
periodontal disease is one of them. It is an obvious and significant lapse which
must not be overlooked.
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Expedience, if nothing else, demands that preventive services should become
a major factor in professional planning and action against dental disease. Yet
most dentists are still overwhelmingly oriented to remedial rather than preventive
practice. Dentists also work primarily as soloists, although the logic of the
service supply situation indicates a need for more productive methods of practice.
There is no question in my mind that the technical expertise of American
dentists is the greatest in the world. But, as we used to say on the University
of Michigan football teams I played on, you've got to deliver. And the American
dentistry team's delivery system is not satisfactory.
The delivery system is generally condemned as obsolescent. Some critics go
so far as to say a "system" doesn't even exist. In any case, there is no doubt
that many more people go without dental services than receive them.
Now, what can be done about it?
It is a challenge which I think can be met only if dentists accept the idea
of partnership -- a partnership with the Federal Government, a partnership which is
fashioned out of mutual concern for the dental health of the individual American
citizen.
When the Federal role in health care is mentioned today, most people think
immediately of Medicare and Medicaid -- and probably little else.
But behind the Federal care programs are a host of other Federally supported
programs of direct concern to dentists and American consumers: education and
manpower programs to provide more dentists and auxiliaries; screening for oral
cancer and periodontal disease; continuing education for practitioners, teachers and
dental researchers; oral science research and technology; applied research to
increase the practitioner's skill and productivity; and preventive programs like
community fluoridation.
Let me point out that the University of Michigan Dentistry School has just
received a Federal grant of $227,500 and the University of Detroit Dentistry School
$184,500 under the continuing Federal Health Professions Educational Improvement
Program. In that connection, I note that the costs of professional training are
going up at a frightening rate.
Today, both the Government and the dental profession are centering their
concern on three overriding considerations in the area of dental care: the lag
in dental research, both basic and applied; the shortage of profesisonal manpower,
together with related problems in education, distribution and utilization; and the
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inaccessibility of adequate dental health protection for large numbers of
Americans.
I promise you that the present Administration will support forward-looking
action in all of these areas.
A good beginning has already been made. The chief example that comes to
mind is in the field of research. Let me point out that the President's fiscal
1971 budget allocates an additional $5 million for the fight to eliminate dental
caries.
In the Nixon Administration dentistry will at last receive the concerted
and imaginative support it deserves.
What makes the $5 million additional for research especially important is
that it will be used to support a broad spectrum of activities for both basic
research and research in the application of basic findings.
The attention of anyone committed to the cause of dental health should also
focus on manpower. That, in my judgment, is the core problem.
The shortage of dentists is tremendous. But I don't believe we can solve
the problem simply by increasing the number of dentists. I say that because to meet
the need we would have to produce some 168,000 practitioners in 10 years time. Well,
that of course is outside the realm of possibility.
So what can be done? We must nearly double the present dental capability
by the 1980s. We must reach for higher levels of productivity.
We must ask what the dentist of the future should be like --- how he should
function to meet his full responsibility to society.
More schools of dentistry should become involved in meeting the health needs
of their own communities and areas. Dental students of the University of Kentucky,
for instance, have taken dental care to the citizens of rural Wolfe County on
wheels because they recognize that dental deprivation is found most commonly among
the poor and the isolated.
Community dentistry will require -- and should begin to educate -- its own
brand of specialists -- specialists who are experts in the design and administration
of care programs, and care and delivery systems researchers.
We should also seriously explore the possibility of improving dental
productivity through expansion of group and multi-disciplinary practice. At the
same time we must develop the means to keep practitioners abreast of advances in
technology, materials, and research application.
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Most important of all -- in the decade ahead of us -- we must move to a far
more extensive use of auxiliary personnel in providing dental care services.
This involves reorientation. It will not be easy. The undergraduate school
will have to take the lead, but continuing education will also occupy a central
place in the scheme of things.
There is no greater threat to quality of care than an inadequate supply of
services. The Nation faces precisely that threat, and that is why the use of
dental auxiliaries has become a central factor in dental manpower planning.
As you know, a dentist today devotes a great portion of his time to routine
jobs that could be done just as well by someone with far less training. This means
that dentists are denying patients the benefits of the highest exercise of their
most valuable skills.
This is why the Department of Health, Education and Welfare is supporting
Dental Auxiliary Utilization training programs in all the Nation's dental schools.
And where these programs have concentrated on the traditional single auxiliary,
they should now be broadened to include multiple auxiliaries performing expanded
functions.
Why? Because as I mentioned earlier we must double the availability of
dental services by 1980.
There may be some who doubt the need for such an expansion. I am not one
of them. Let me point first of all to the fact of Medicaid and other publicly
supported commitments to dental care. And beyond the publicly supported programs
we have an acceleration of privately supported prepaid dental care programs.
The Federal Government will do its part in cooperation with the states and
the profession to bring about new advances in dental care.
The present obsolescent delivery system must not remain as an insurmountable
barrier between the people of this country and the dental care they need and
deserve.
Responsible public officials are determined that this shall not happen.
We know that dentistry has a great heritage. The dental profession has
consistently been responsive to changing needs and it has always been open to
innovation.
That is why I say that you will continue to progress and that working
together we will move forward into a new decade of ever greater achievement.
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