work, computer use, television or excessive organizational involvement. We engage with our electronic devices in bed, in the car while driving, and most have TVs in the bedroom. We are weakened with the habits of smoking, improper drug use and little exercise. Many suffer from chronic diseases.
We are witnessing increased infertility rates, lower sperm counts, increased birth defects, more obese children and more psychological disorders. We have more people in jail than in any other time in history.
Our history proves that we do not learn from our history. That’s why we repeat wars. We also repeat wars with microbes. In 1894 Charles Creighton claimed that the flu epidemics of 1657, 1688, 1727, 1732, 1737 and 1760 were all preceded or accompanied by respiratory diseases in horses. Major George Soper published in the New York Medical Journal in 1919 that there is concomitant influenza pandemics in horses and man. The French army veterinarians reported the same observation in 1918, as well as in 1889 when France had an influenza outbreak. We are currently reading about influenza from fowl in our newspapers. We do not learn from history.
Let’s look at 1918 a little closer. Consider Alfred W. Crosby’s comments in his book on the influenza pandemic of 1918 (page 311 of my copy):
“The important and almost incompre- hensible fact about Spanish influenza is that it killed millions upon millions (estimate 30 million world wide) in a year or less. Nothing else—no infection, no war, no famine—has ever killed so many in as short a period. And yet it has never inspired awe, not in 1918 and not since, not among the citizens of any particular land and not among the citizens of the United States. This inaptitude for wonder and fear cannot be attributed to a lack of information.”
We blindly think that our over-burdened medical system and our over-used antibi- otic arsenal will suffice in a new microbial outbreak.
Consider the previous five generalizations showing a weaker population now than in 1918 and add to it these facts.
• The population of world is more crowded with three times more inhabit- ants than in 1918.
• The population of animals—especially in confined feed lots—is much more than in 1918.
• In 1918 it took days to travel by steam- ship to Europe and longer to travel to China. Now it takes only hours to carry microbes from continent to continent in our lungs, bowels, blood and hair. We read about AIDS, West Nile Fever, Ebola viruses and SARS in our newspapers.
Let’s add another threatening factor. Bioter- rorism. Biological bombs are cheaper, more easily developed and easier to deliver than nuclear weapons. The defense is more dif- ficult. Detection is more difficult.
The country’s population is malnourished, stressed, over-medicated, maximally net- worked and vulnerable. Epidemiological indi- cators are screaming at us through microbial history and contemporary events. Our pan- demics come from horses, cattle, swine or fowl. These populations are trying to tell us of the danger. There is high probability that a massive pandemic, most likely influenza, is eminent—perhaps in biblical proportions.
Dentists serve on countless boards: schools, hospitals and public service. Your expertise will be needed there and in the field if a natural or induced pandemic occurs. Are you ready for a global pandemic? Prepare yourself now. f
Dr. Bob Brunker served as MDA Editor from 2001-2012. He continues to practice in St. Joseph, where he also was an instructor in the dental hygiene program of North Central Missouri College offered at the Hillyard Technical Center in St. Joseph. He still likes to stir up
thought, and you can find his letters in the St. Joseph News Press. He most enjoys spending time with his children and grandchildren.
Amalgam Separator Deadline: No EPA Extension Plans
In the last issue, we reminded you of the upcoming July deadline for having amalgam separators installed. While COVID-19 has pushed back many deadlines and offered extensions, the EPA has not extended the separator deadline. The ADA has noted that while the agency has not even been discussing the deadline, the agency (as a whole) has adopted a discretionary enforce- ment policy, which effectively states that it will not be rigorously enforcing compliance deadlines for these types of things. The ADA has stated they are not expecting a deadline extension, but also not expecting the EPA to come down on dentists who haven’t met the deadline. Find more information in this ADA News article at
bit.ly/ada-amal and compliance resources at
modental.org/moamalgam.
Dental Board CE Requirements
Members have asked, “Will the Den- tal Board waive its requirement that a certain number of CE hours be from live (in-person) courses, due to the current cancellations of many CE programs? In fact, there is no limitation on the number of CE hours that licensees can obtain through online courses, journal offer- ings, webinars or other distance/virtual learning formats. In-person courses are not a requirement and all CE hours could be gained online. The CE rule, however, does provide instruction on the require- ment of clinical-related CE versus that which pertains to practice management: “Of the 50 hours required for dentists, not less than 40 must be hours directly related to the updating and maintaining of knowledge and skills in the treatment, health and safety of the individual dental patient.” The renewal date for which CE is required is November 30, 2020.
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