The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-08-06
ARMY DENTISTS
IN india CHINA
OVERCOME ODDS
BY ROBERT p. MARTIN
United Press staff CORRESPONDENT

Il
sonnet and equipment, U. S. Army
dentists In the past year have
maintained the health OF American
soldiers in the China Burma India
theater while simultaneously laying
the groundwork for the first organ
lied dental service In the Chinese
army.
When the first dental unit ar
rived at an Indian port in April
1912 1t faced the task of caring
for an average Of 1000 men per
dentist compared to the normal
Army ratio of one dentist for each
500 men. 1t had only field dental
equipment with minimum Of fill
ing material, medicines and instru-
ments. Clinics were established at
the major American bases and 16
hours was the normal working day.
Maj. Walter J. Newton, 81, of
Claiche, Kan, graduate of the
Kansas City Dental College and a
private practitioner in Oklahoma
City before he joined the Army, was
! In charge of the first unit. His first
Job, however, was not pulling teeth
but constructing bomb dispersal
area at the Indian port.
1.-THE Jobs were slightly differ
ent," Major Newton said, but I
had had little experience IN en-
cheering and General Wheeler was
short of engineers. 1t was compare
lively easy, just interpreting blue
prints. But it was the biggest cavity
I ever worked on"
Clinic Is Now Well Equipped
Lend-lease supplies originally in
tended for China eased the supply
situation. A shipment OF several
hundred tons of equipment was d.
verified to India when the japanese
smashed toward Rangoon in the
the opening days Of their Burma
campaign. There was no hope OF
getting the supplies to China. so
the Army requLstioned them. Other
supplies were purchased in India
and these enabled the dental corps
to get through the crisis OF the next
four or five months until regular
shipments began arriving from the
U. S.
The clinics in India now rival the
best dental offices In the U. s..
since they have the most modern
equipment available. Army dentists
in China, however, still utilize foot
powered drills because of lack OF
electric power. Any soldier can get
his teeth cared for at almost any
time, due to the increase in person
mel and equipment. And the den
lists take up arms when they are
accused of being too impersonal IN
their work or of not turning out as
good work as they would In private
practice.
1--WE handle two or three times as
many men in one day as the aver
age practicing dentist at home"
Capt. Fred S. Sammons OF Chicago
told me. But we don't have TO
spend time selling our work to the
patient. These boys are getting bet
ter dental care than most OF them
ever had In their lives. If we are
impersonal It's only because we have
SO many patients and that doesn't
mean they aren't getting the best
we can give them"
Not satisfied with working only
for the American soldiers, 1t. Col.
Clare r. Bulge, SO. Of Logan. Utah,
India China theater dental surgeon,
opened a training center for Chi
nese These men, most OF them
from the Chinese Army's pharma-
ceutical department, received two
months training under Colonel
Bulge at a training center In India.
They we're taught emergency oral
surgery for soldiers at the front,
anaesthesia and oral hygiene. A
special field kit was designed for
the Chinese which was not as bulky
as the American kit.
Surpass Americans Teeth
"They did a damned good job
on the Chinese soldiers" Bulge
commented. THE Chinese Army
doesn't seem to need fully-trained
and equipped dental surgeons. All
of the country boys had practically
perfect teeth, while the soldiers
from the city we're not so we'll off.
All In all, the Chinese had better
teeth than the Americans. We don't
know the -eason--maybe 1t was due
to their teeth structure or their
diet, since the average Chinese eats
very little sweets. Mouth diseases,
however, we're as prvalent as among
the Americans"
Members of the Army dental
service rarely If ever get medals for
their work and seldom see actual
combat, but there is little question
that they and their colleagues in
the medical service sacrifice as much
in their personal life as any men in
the Army.
1t. Col. Thomas A. Price, As, Of
Danville, Va, Is an example Of this.
When he went into the Army he
abandoned lucrative practice in
Miami Fla and sold his equip
ment, house and other possessions.
When we get out of the Army"
Colonel Price pointed out, most of
us will have lost all of the practice
we had built up In the past 20 years
and will have to start again just
as when we graduated from school.
Our patients can't be expected to
remember us after four or five years
If they have been going to another
dentist.
None of us will have any equip
ment, and none OF the equipment
purchased by the Army can be sold
until five years after the war. That
means we will have to buy all new
equipment unless we can put one Of
these machines our pocket" he
added, pointing to a power driven
combination that must have weighed
800 pounds.