Remote Area Medical clinic serving needs in Wise, Va.

[XanaDUer]

http://www2.tricities.com/news/2011/jul/23/r-ar-1191098/

WISE, VA - Sure, people say that drinking soda will rot your teeth, but Renee Harvey didn’t realize that it really could – and really would – leave her needing dentures at the age of 33.

“Last year, I had my bottom teeth took out, and two years ago I had my top teeth took out,” she said. “I didn’t know it was that bad.”

Harvey, a mother of three from Coeburn, Va., was fitted for dentures at this year’s Remote Area Medical (RAM) expedition, an annual event that provides free medical, dental and vision care to the poor, uninsured and underinsured at the Wise County Fairgrounds.

When she had the bottom teeth removed two years ago, she said, the rest of her teeth looked OK. In just a year’s time, though, those teeth went bad as well.

[leveymg]

1. Probably not just the Pepsi. My guess, poor diet and heavy metal contamination - coal mining.

#
Community Impacts of Mountaintop Removal « Appalachian Voices
http://appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/community/ - Cached
A community in Wise County, Virginia sits at the base of a mountaintop removal coal ... sites frequently experience contamination of their drinking water supplies. ... not to mention the heavy metals naturally present in the coal. ...
►
#

[XanaDUer]

2. Yes, notice the nasty facebook remarks from the libertarian

under the story. Yeah, she drank soda, and should not drink so much. ALL humans do shit that is injurious to ourselves, somehow.

[leveymg]

3. That sort of "libertarian" is just another corporate front.

Hell, I'm a libertarian, sort of, in some ways. Too bad it's been given a bad name.

[XanaDUer]

4. I was using hyperbole

I don't know the guy or his leanings - he does rant about why we don't need national health care 'cause this woman made bad choices and drank Mountain Dew, or something.

[leveymg]

5. I know. That's an interesting story for what it does and doesn't say about the health problems

in that area. Tooth loss at such a young age rarely has anything to do with cavities. It's usually a bone mineral deficiency stemming from a deficient diet, but more often due to the body's uptake of environmental pollutants. In Wise, VA, that would be heavy metals from coal trailings.

The real culprit is contaminants in the local water, not Mountain Dew. Whoever edits that Ho-dunk newspaper probably knows better. That paper is probably owned by Massey. More dirty-carbon corporate propaganda is what this looks like.

[XanaDUer]

6. I agree

Americans, well RW ones, love the old it's-all-your-bad-choices canards they float about like turds.

[leveymg]

7. Curious - what primarily motivated you post that story here?

Was it an appeal to help the Doctors Sans Frontiers-type VOLAG doing the dental work? To draw attention to the faux "libertarian" self-righteousness and the "people are sick because they make bad choices" embedded propaganda? Something else?

[XanaDUer]

8. Sure

I like posting stories I think are of interest, and a friend sent me this earlier today. It is, after all, a message board, although you'd be hard pressed to know that anymore with some of the ppl here telling people what to post, where to post it, etc.

As for the other stuff you're referring to - I have no fucking idea what you're referring to- but if you're accusing me of something, you'd better be a little clearer what you mean by "something else".

[leveymg]

9. No, please don't misunderstand. That's not an accusation, at all. I was just curious

about what stood out about that particular story that made you post it here.

:hi:

The other stuff I commented on wasn't directed at you. That's just stream of consciousness stuff from outa my overheated head.

Hot today, First round's on me. :toast:

[XanaDUer]

10. No problemo

Understood.

[leveymg]

11. Cold one for ya?

Bottoms up! :beer: Little earlier than usual, even for a Saturday. But, too damn hot to cut the lawn today.

[XanaDUer]

12. Make it a root beer and I'll pull a stool over.

:thumbsup:

[leveymg]

13. Coming up!

Are you in Wise, VA? I'm sitting in Alexandria.

[XanaDUer]

14. No.

But I know medical folks in the area who are reaching out to underserved populations there, medical and dental.

As you may or may not know, besides bad teeth, and dental problems can cause systemic health problems (which is why I believe dental care should also fall under a single-payer national health-insurance plan - but I know I'm dreaming there), the mortality rate in Appalachia and environs is very high, due to lack of all types of medical care.

[leveymg]

15. Wise would be near where the original Gesundheit Clinic was, right?

In "Patch Adams", Robin Williams he plays a VCU Medical School grad who sets up a rural free clinic in the Appalachians. I know the Appalachians stretches along like five states and is one of the country's most medically underserved areas. That clinic has since moved to West Virginia.

Do you know any of those folks?

[XanaDUer]

16. Why?

Nothing personal, but you seem super-interested in my personal ties to this.

[leveymg]

17. It's okay. Just idle curiosity.

You posted a story from an obscure rural newspaper in the same state where I live. There were some things in the article that sorta stood out for me.

I was just wondering why you chose to repost it here?

Your personal ties to the story aren't what originally interested me, and if that makes you uncomfortable, I apologize.

[XanaDUer]

18. I chose to post it here for the reasons I gave up-thread

While I am sure you're a lovely person, it's probably not a good idea to reveal too much about oneself on an anonymous message board, as I am sure you can understand why.

[leveymg]

19. Sure. Have a great afternoon, and stay cool.

:hi:

[Marnie]

20. Before you use this lady as an example you need to

tell us, does she smoke, and how much? Does she brush and floss twice daily. Is the local water soft or hard. (Hard water has more minerals which can deposit in the enamel during childhood development and make teeth harder. (Just ask dentists in West Texas where fluoride occurs naturally in well water. Or my own cast iron teeth from the iron in the red clay of the Red River.)
Whst was her diet like when she was a young child as her adult teeth were developing?

Does she gnaw on things that are hard, or do any kind of work that she has used her teeth on that could have etched or made micro cracks in the enamel? What is her diet like?

Do rural populations need and deserve better access to health care, including dental care?
Absolutely, I have worked in a rural hospital in a very impoverished rural of the NE US. Even there it is funny how much healthier the well to do class is than the working class.

[XanaDUer]

21. Well, um

it's an article about poor people getting the dental care/dental prostheses they need. Yes, I am sure there are macro issues surrounding all of this. Those of us with money and decent dental insurance take for granted twice-a-year dental visits.

I cannot tell you if she smokes or not, gnaws hard objects, or any of that. However, there does appear to be a soda issue.

Thank you for working with the undeserved rural poor, though.