Practicing Dentistry in WNC
If you haven’t already, check out part one of this provider profile featuring Dr. Alice Jamison, DDS, MPH! Get a behind-the-scenes look at her typical week in the dental office, her dedication to patients in Asheville and across Western North Carolina, and more.
Now, let’s dive back in.
In this next part of our conversation, Dr. Jamison opens up about the lasting effects of Hurricane Helene on oral health, the moments that make her job truly rewarding, why patient education is so important, and how care integration can shape the future of dentistry.
The effects of Hurricane Helene on oral health
From September 25 to September 28, 2024, rain inundated 17 counties in Western North Carolina. Category Four Hurricane Helene, the third-deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland in modern history, affected all aspects of daily life, including oral health.
“With Helene, those (oral hygiene habits) got disrupted, obviously,” Dr. Jamison said. “For a lot of people, their whole routine was disrupted, and with kids specifically, routine is so, so important.”
The storm destroyed Asheville’s North Fork Water Treatment Plant in Buncombe County, where Best Bites is located, leaving tens of thousands without drinkable water for 53 days. “The water was a big issue. People not brushing their teeth because they didn’t have tap water available, didn’t have a lot of water available just in general,” she said.
“When we first opened up after the storm, we were bringing in bottled water to run our autoclaves and to run our chairs and everything like that. So still, tap water was off limits, and people were coming in and trying to brush their teeth in our office.”
Dr. Jamison said many of the families she serves face ongoing challenges, and she sees signs of elevated stress, such as patients wearing down their mouth guards or retainers.
“We have families who lost everything, and I have kids who [were] like, I don’t know where my toothbrush is, it’s gone. My whole house is gone, my toothbrush included,” she said. “How can you argue with that? You really can’t.”
Although she wants all her patients to care for their teeth as best they can, Dr. Jamison acknowledges their challenges. “I love teeth, and I love hygiene, and I love keeping teeth intact,” she said. “But that’s by no means a priority when you are homeless. I respect that, and I see that. I’m trying to be easier on the kids right now.”
She said the future impacts on her patients and their families remain uncertain. “There are the people who are living in hotels and living in tents and living with other family members,” she said. “I don’t know when that’s going to even itself out. Nobody knows when people are going to be in homes again.”
Bright spots at Best Bites
Even in tumultuous times, Dr. Jamison expressed love for her work. The bright spots in her day are when patients and their parents or guardians leave feeling cared for and comforted. “I’ve had parents thank me after an appointment and be like, thank you for your patience. Thank you for just talking through every step of the way. Thank you for taking the time to pause if we need a pause,” she said.
Dr. Jamison shared her passion for helping patients with dental anxiety. “[I am] hoping to give people a good experience so that their anxiety is alleviated. So, they don’t fear coming to the dentist,” she said. “This is a really scary place for a lot of people. I really like giving kids a very good, positive, fun experience of the dentist so that they keep coming back.”
In her experience, many people hold misconceptions about dentists and the dental field. “I don’t know a lot of other careers where people are constantly badmouthing you to your face about what you chose to do for a living. It’s not great to hear,” she said. “So, when people are thankful for what I am actively trying to do for them, it’s very appreciated.”
Patient education and autonomy
Along with helping her patients feel comfortable and at ease, Dr. Jamison focuses on patient education. Whether she’s guiding new parents on how to clean their baby’s teeth or encouraging teenagers to brush twice a day, her goal is to ensure everyone has the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their oral health.
“My biggest thing is I want to educate people. We all have our autonomy,” she said. “I’m going to give you all of the treatment options. I’m going to give you what I would recommend, and then you can make your own decisions.”
When parents or guardians have questions about fluoride treatments, Dr. Jamison is always ready to answer. “It’s (fluoride) so, so proven to be good for teeth,” she said. “It’s able to pull the minerals from your spit and pull them back into the tooth.”
She explained how fluoride helps prevent cavities: “A cavity is where the minerals start being leached out of the tooth, and if you think of [the] tooth structure as a scaffolding, and then the minerals are pulled out, you’re left with pretty brittle scaffold. Then, when it breaks, that’s a cavity, and when it’s not broken yet, but it’s still a weakened scaffold, the minerals can be put back in the tooth, and it strengthens it again and re-mineralizes that area. Then, it doesn’t progress to the cavity quickly. And that is why fluoride is important. It is a preventative measure.”
Dr. Jamison wants all her patients to have the best chance at maintaining good oral health throughout their lives. Decades of research show that low levels of fluoride in drinking water significantly reduce cavities, especially in children. Addressing efforts to stop public water fluoridation, she asked, “If you are going to prevent a whole generation of children from having rampant caries (cavities) being pulled out, why would you not do that?”
Opportunities for integrated care in dentistry
In addition to evidence-based public health interventions, Dr. Jamison believes that integrated care can improve access to oral health and whole-person well-being.
While earning her Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) at UNC Chapel Hill, she joined an interprofessional education group made up of medical, nursing, social work, pharmacy, and dental school students who organized activities and events throughout the year.
“You’d come together, and you were given case studies,” she said. “You’d be split up into groups that had one of everybody, and you’d all talk through what factors came up for you and how you would work with other people in your group to get all the needs met, which was very interesting.”
During her residency, Dr. Jamison also experienced the benefits of integrated care. “MAHEC was really good with that because dentistry was upstairs, family practice was downstairs, and OB (obstetrics) was across the parking lot,” she said. “You could call them up and be like, ‘Hey, so I have your patient upstairs; can you give me any insight?’ or ‘Oh, their meds are out of date,’ you know, everything like that.”
Dr. Jamison reflected that having a collaborative setup like this would be incredibly beneficial in her current role. “I think that would be ideal, just that built-in network and plan of communication,” she said. “It’d be really cool if you opened an office or opened a practice where you had all these different specialties across the board, and that would be where your patients would just get everything done.”
Keep up with oral health in NC
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