AJPH PERSPECTIVES The Dental Professional On Friday afternoon, the phone usually rings steadily in my dental office. I try to stop practicing dentistry at 3 PM; however, more often than not, one of the front-desk people will tell me that there is another patient in pain on the phone. Most of the people calling are covered by Medicaid, and they have been looking for dentists to see them for a while. If they are in pain or have swelling, we will see them on Friday afternoon, Saturday morning—whenever. Why? Because I am a professional and that is what professionals are supposed to do. I strongly hold this belief and, frankly, it angers me when I see colleagues who do not get it. We all should serve Medicaid patients because we are professionals. Maybe it is my background. My mother was a Native American with little education. My father was a smart, tough World War II veteran who grew into adulthood during the New Deal. He was a die-hard liberal. They both fought alcoholism their entire lives, which sometimes made my life hell. But, through the ups and downs, I learned a couple of lessons that I do not think enough dentists ever learned. First, I am successful because I am lucky, not because I am better than everyone else. I was lucky to have a father who pushed education, and I was lucky to grow up in a situation where I could get a good education. I could have grown up like my mother in severe poverty, being shuttled between Denver,

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Colorado, and Oklahoma with no one to show her how different life could be. She never graduated from high school and may never have made it to the middle class without my father. Second, luck is fleeting. Things may be good at this moment, but as children of alcoholics know, chaos can break out at any minute. The lucky, comfortable person one minute can become a forgotten and injured person the next. The essential message of these two lessons is that we are all people, some luckier than others, but almost everyone is one adverse event away from a different life. I have been a faculty member at several dental schools, teaching on the clinic floor and working as an associate dean. Through these experiences, I have learned an unwritten but common belief pervasive in many schools, one conveyed from opinionated faculty to their students. Good dentists—quality dentists—do not serve Medicaid patients. The message is conveyed through stories about “those people.” They do not show up for their appointments; they come late and do not appreciate what you do for them; they make the other people in your waiting room uncomfortable—I can keep going, but the idea is apparent. Well, I could have been one of those people. The only difference between those people and me is luck. Most of us could have been one of those people. It is time for those of us who serve Medicaid patients to speak

up. We need more good dentists who care about people to join us. I do veneers on cash-paying patients, I restore implants for nice people working in high-tech jobs, and I help kids playing football in the suburbs get mouth guards, but I also serve Medicaid patients and treat them like anyone else with insurance. We are all people, and we all deserve respect and care. If you are a dentist, I believe you have a responsibility to serve those in need because, if not for luck, you could be on the other end of the phone at 3 PM on a Friday. Terry Batliner, DDS, MBA

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Terry Batliner is with the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, Aurora, and Sage Dental Care of Boulder, Lafayette, and Westminster Colorado. He is also a guest editor for this supplement issue. Correspondence should be sent to Terry Batliner, Colorado School of Public Health, Health Services Management and Policy, 13001 E. 17th Place, Aurora, CO 80045 (e-mail: terry. [email protected]). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the “Reprints” link. This editorial was accepted March 8, 2017. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2017.303780

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Supplement 1, 2017, Vol 107, No. S1