Audio Clip Dentists Overwhelmed By Tooth Decay In Navajo Children

Almost 70 percent of Navajo children have untreated tooth decay, according to a recent University of Colorado study. That’s three times higher than the national average. The study blames a lack of access saying there aren’t enough dentists for the largest tribe in the country.



Laurel Morales Craig Peshtony, 14, says he learned how to brush his teeth from television commercials.

Craig Peshtony, 14, doesn’t like coming to the dentist.

“It’s scary, kind of, 'cause sometimes I think that I might get my teeth pulled out,” Peshtony said.Peshtony tugged his black hooded sweatshirt down over his eyes. He said he was only seven when he had a tooth extracted due to decay. He said it felt like two ants biting him.

University of Colorado dentist and researcher Terry Batliner said children are in pain all over the reservation.

“And some of these kids are in pain so often, they don’t even really know what it’s like to be out of pain,” Peshtony said. “It leads to a lot of other issues, too. It’s very difficult for kids to behave themselves and to pay attention and to be happy.”



Laurel Morales Dentist Darrin Blackman works with dental assistants Cloetta Keams, Marlene Keams and Shirlene Bahe on the RV turned dental clinic.

And Batliner said decay at such a young age can lead to gum disease by high school and that can aggravate other health conditions like diabetes, which is prevalent among American Indians, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Batliner said 22 dental clinics are not enough to head off the decay on a reservation the size of West Virginia.

“The dentists are overwhelmed,” Batliner said. “They’re just not enough dentists to serve the population there and there haven’t been for years.”

According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report, there’s inadequate social support in Indian Country.

“Other issues could include education of parents, diet, the importance of oral health as compared to all of the other challenges people face in their daily life,” Batliner said. “But I think the one we could most easily address is the access issue.”



Laurel Morales Dental assistant Marlene Keams works with dentist Darrin Blackman on the Winslow Indian Health Care Center mobile dental clinic.

Dental service is free for Native Americans but many don’t know that so the waiting rooms are often packed with patients who wait until it’s an emergency.

“They tax the system,” said dental chief Thomas Barnes, who runs the Winslow Indian Health Care dental clinic. “We’re unable to schedule appointments based on the number of emergencies that we have in. We can’t continue with the preventative stuff because we’re busy taking care of emergencies.”

So Winslow dentist Darrin Blackman said if the patients aren’t going to come to him, he’ll go to them -- in a mobile dental clinic.Recently, the clinic traveled to the tiny remote Navajo community of Seba Dalkai. Students at the elementary school took a break from class to step aboard the RV. Three dental assistants and Blackman sort of dance around the two chairs taking X-rays, performing exams and applying sealants.



Laurel Morales Many families who live near the community of Seba Dalkai in northern Arizona have to find transportation to get to the dentist. So the mobile clinic comes to them.

Dental assistant Marlene Keams grew up here. She pointed to the trees out the window she and her cousins used to climb. Keams said they’re limited in what they can accomplish on the mobile clinic. They teach the kids how to brush and send letters home explaining the children need follow-up appointments.

“There’s nothing more we can do,” Keams said. “Just like they say, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.”

That’s why Blackman would like to get a second RV, so he could reach more people and perform fillings and extractions. Blackman said he and his team make a dent in the problem.“That’s the thing that keeps me wanting to do it over and over and over again, is trying to make a bigger and bigger and bigger dent every single time,” Blackman said.

Many people on the Navajo Nation wait until it’s urgent to go to the dentist because they’re dealing with real life emergencies all the time, like finding transportation to haul clean water. But Blackman said ignoring a toothache can trigger a chain reaction of other health consequences.