Tux Turkel does a good job at describing the reasons for our dental crisis in Maine, but he did not mention one important source of oral disease prevention that is under threat at the State House (“Preventive care slows a costly dental trend,” Feb. 28).

The Fund for a Healthy Maine, the tobacco settlement that Maine has historically used for health promotion and disease prevention, is facing huge cuts in the Legislature.

Additional Photos

Dr. Barry Saltz, left, assisted by Tim Kilgo, works with a patient in his Portland dental office. State oral health services to children and to elderly, disabled, uninsured and underinsured Mainers are at risk, a reader says. 2012 File Photo/Gregory Rec

For oral health, these funds are used to provide oral health education and services to 236 schools and 30,000 children, and there are already 9,000 more children who would qualify if more funds were available.

Fund for Healthy Maine money is also used to provide more than 60,000 uninsured or underinsured people who receive services at community dental clinics with a sliding-scale fee, which can make a critical difference in the decision to seek care. The fund also provides a small amount for coordinating donated dental services to some elderly and disabled residents.

All of these services are eliminated in the proposed budget. Oral disease is highly preventable, and it is clearly less expensive to prevent it than to end up in the emergency room, but we need a state infrastructure that supports prevention or it will not happen.

Gutting the Fund for a Healthy Maine is short-sighted in the extreme.

Sarah Shed

coordinator

Maine Dental Access Coalition

Augusta

Readers reflect on ideal ways to celebrate Lenten season

Feb. 22 marked the beginning of Lent, the 40-day period preceding Easter when Christians would abstain from meat and dairy products in remembrance of Jesus – 40 days of reflection before launching his ministry.

Devout Christians who still observe meatless Lent help reduce chronic diseases, environmental degradation and animal abuse. In the past four decades, dozens of medical reports have linked consumption of animal products with elevated risk of heart failure, stroke, cancer and other killer diseases.

A 2007 U.N. report named meat production as the largest source of greenhouse gases and water pollution. Undercover investigations have documented animals being raised for food under abject conditions of caging, crowding, deprivation, drugging, mutilation and manhandling.

Lent offers a superb opportunity to honor Jesus’ powerful message of compassion and love for all living beings. To stop subsidizing disease, devastation and cruelty. To choose a wholesome nonviolent diet of vegetables, fruits and grains and a vast array of meat and dairy alternatives. It’s a diet mandated in Genesis 1:29 and observed in the Garden of Eden.

Entering “vegetarian Lent” in your favorite search engine provides ample tips and recipes.

Patrick Wayne

Portland

We wish to express our utter dismay at the “curbside service” as pictured on Page C2 of the Feb. 23 Portland Press Herald.

“Ashes to Go,” as far as we’re personally concerned, is a commercialization of Ash Wednesday, an integral part of our Christian beliefs. In short, it was a service that disrespected the beginning of our Lenten season as Christians.

Although, as practicing Roman Catholics, we are totally open to many of the programs that promote the return of Christians to their faith after falling away – i.e. “Catholics Come Home,” etc. – we find this particular public endeavor somewhat offensive to our beliefs.

Yes, Jesus Christ preached to the crowds no matter what their beliefs, but he did so in a venue that was perhaps not as commercial as the venue on Congress Street that took place on Ash Wednesday. Such a service should be conducted in a more appropriate place. That’s our opinion.

Richard and Cheryl Talbot

Windham

Businesses need to join efforts to lower energy costs

Every day there are news articles, television programs and radio programs addressing the issue of rising energy costs in the state of Maine.

We are all urged to turn off unnecessary electrical items and use compact fluorescent lighting and energy-efficient appliances. We are asked to reduce our carbon footprint and our consumption of fossil fuels and other nonrenewable resources. Most of us do what we can because it reduces our monthly energy costs.

Lately I have become keenly aware of the tremendous amount of energy used to keep commercial businesses illuminated at night.

It all began a few weeks ago when I got out of work at 1 a.m. and looked for a place to get a bite to eat before going home. I pulled into two different restaurants that appeared to be open, only to find that they were locked up. One of the restaurants had a neon “OPEN” sign that was still turned on.

Because I drive a truck and make deliveries all night, I can see that the wasted-lighting issue is not exclusive to restaurants. It includes all businesses: shoe stores, clothing stores, car dealerships, insurance companies, real estate agencies, banks, credit unions, craft stores, sporting goods stores, tire shops, barbershops, pawnshops, smoke shops, hardware stores and on and on.

What’s missing are the people and the traffic. There aren’t any people, there is no traffic, everything is closed, but there are a lot of illuminated signs. Why?

Can’t businesses help reduce energy costs by applying the same common sense that Maine citizens use? Do we need to create even more rules and regulations to control business? Do we just deny that there is a problem here? How about voluntarily turning off the signs when you lock the doors and go home?

Richard Alderette

Hollis Center

Comp proposal would hurt the permanently impaired

As the Legislature is considering changing Maine’s workers compensation system, I have to ask our legislators to listen to the stories of Mainers who have been hurt on the job.

A bill before the Labor Committee proposes to stop benefits for permanently impaired workers after 618 weeks. I’ll tell you what that means: After 618 weeks, I wouldn’t be able to support my wife and two children.

My last job was as a warehouse manager. The job required me to constantly lift and carry heavy weights. On a busy day, I would lift more than 100,000 pounds.

I have worked all of my life, and I always prided myself on being able to get back to work after an injury. I had my first work injury on March 14, 2001 – a rotator cuff tear. I missed three weeks of work and went back in a sling.

I had a total hip replacement done in December 2002 and an elbow injury in 2008. Again, I was out of work only for a few weeks each time before I returned to work on crutches or with a cast.

In June 2009, I was hurt again and needed a total hip replacement. I was unable to perform my job and was let go. The medical examiner stated that I have 57 percent whole-body permanent impairment. I will not be able to work again.

I hate not being able to work. I feel like I have let my family down by not being able to work.

I cannot imagine permanently injured workers arbitrarily losing their benefits after 618 weeks. What are they going to do in the 619th week? This proposed bill is unconscionable, and I urge our legislators to oppose it.

Richard Matthews

South Portland

Changes in procedure make colon cancer exams easier

Regarding the Associated Press article reporting that “colonoscopies really are worth the trouble” (Feb. 23): Dr. Sidney Winawer mentions in the article that most people complain about the “horrible, terrible” prep that proceeds the event. He then declares, “But look at the alternative.”

Most folks don’t realize that there is an alternative to that dreaded prep. Danbury Hospital in Connecticut has been prepping their colonoscopy patients using colon hydrotherapy for more than three years now.

Even in Maine, more progressive GI doctors are accepting this procedure, stating that the “visualization is excellent.”

And as opposed to having to take the day before the procedure off from work, patients prefer to irrigate their colons one hour before their colonoscopy, freeing them from being tied to their bathrooms for 12 hours. Especially for the elderly and diabetics, this reduces the risk of complications, making life more pleasant for all.

Pamela Gerry, RN, CCT

Health Lyceum

Springvale

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