BATTLE GROUND – This past December, Battle Ground Health Care (BGHC) received an early Christmas gift.
The nonprofit organization, which provides free medical and limited free dental services to area residents, relies on the generous acts of area businesses and individuals to keep up with improving technology that it could not otherwise afford.
According to Dr. Bill Pritchard, doctors Ryan and Suzie Bergman of Dentistry on Officer’s Row donated a dental panoramic imager to BGHC at approximately one-half its value.
“We wanted our panoramic machine to be used in a clinic where it could really help people as it is in excellent condition,” Suzie said in an email. “They now have quality digital imaging to help the practitioners diagnose and treat dental conditions with the clarity afforded by digital technology. We wish them the best in creating beautiful and healthy smiles.”
Pritchard joined with BGHC to help establish the dental clinic when he retired from dentistry in 2010. He explained that the new imager replaces the more invasive way of taking X-rays.
“It primarily gives us a very comprehensive full mouth X-ray in high definition that allows us to see all the structures we need to see as opposed to having to bite down on cardboard which is bulky and can make some people gag. If a patient is in a wheelchair, the height is adjustable,” Pritchard said.
He pointed out a few other advantages of the donated imager. It’s user-friendly for a patient with a toothache or fewer teeth; it cuts down radiation exposure by three quarters of traditional X-ray film; the time to produce a concise set of X-rays is four minutes versus the 20 to 30 minutes biting down on cardboard tabs and it’s less technique-sensitive than traditional X-ray film, so retakes are virtually nonexistent.
Two of the biggest criticisms of patients seeking dental care are how difficult it is to secure an appointment and pay for services. These challenges set the uninsured and underinsured population up to have infrequent check-ups at best. Pritchard confirmed that without regular check-ups people tend to have bigger problems.
Sue Neal, executive director of BGHC, goes a step further.
“If you don’t have a healthy mouth, you probably don’t have a healthy body,” Neal said.
One of the rewards of volunteering his time to BGHC for Pritchard is the patients who thank him every week, some with a handshake and others with a hug, but he stresses that it’s a team effort. Partnering with the Free Clinic of SW Washington and New Heights Clinic – a free clinic supported by New Heights Church – life-changing moments happen.
Illustrating how a healthy mouth can have an overall effect on a healthy body, Pritchard shared the story of a gentleman who was helped back to work by the combined efforts of all three free clinics. This unidentified patient was in need of a kidney transplant that had been waylaid due to oral issues. Once those were resolved, he had the life-saving transplant and has since returned to work.
Happy endings like this are made possible by the collection of community support from people like Ryan and Suzie Bergman.
“People reference our clinic as the Miracle on 189th Street (a slant on the classic Christmas movie, “Miracle on 34th Street”) because it’s truly a blessing to see the community come together. People really care (and) really want to get involved and not just volunteer but enthusiastically,” Pritchard said.
