USA - 91% fluoridated West Virginia: (NYSCOF)

Taking a bite out of dental woes
State names new top dentist
Dr. David H. Walker, 62, became West Virginia’s new dental director last month. He serves a wide spectrum of patients, from the governor to low-income people who can’t afford to pay. This Mason jar sits on a table behind Walker’s desk. It serves as a reminder that last May, the Gazette-Mail published a series of articles about West Virginia’s oral health crisis and one featured a Wayne County woman who pulled her own teeth after drinking moonshine from a Mason jar.
By Eric Eyre
Staff writer
David H. Walker knows his job won’t be easy. He’s West Virginia’s new dental director, in a state with widespread oral health problems, including high rates of tooth loss and untreated decay.
Walker has practiced dentistry for 36 years. As a volunteer at a free clinic in Charleston, he has seen the state’s dental crisis firsthand: rotten molars, infected gums, oral cancer. “I’m a wet-fingered — well, now they call it talc-fingered because you wear gloves — dentist,” Walker said. “I’m not a behind-the-desk administrator.” On Aug. 1, Walker replaced former dental director Dr. Greg Black, who left to work at Allcare Dental & Dentures at the Dudley Farms Plaza shopping center. Walker, 62, knows people in high places who can help in the battle to improve West Virginia’s oral health. He’s the personal dentist of Gov. Joe Manchin and wife Gayle Manchin. The first lady has a strong interest in dental health, especially among children. She hosted an oral health summit at the governor’s mansion last year.
The state dental director job is part-time and pays about $38,000 a year. West Virginia is only one of a handful of states without a full-time dental director.
Walker continues to serve as director of West Virginia University’s School of Dentistry/Charleston Division three days a week. The program is housed at Charleston Area Medical Center Memorial Hospital.
There, Walker and program director Dr. Bill Oscanyan mentor dentists who have recently graduated from dental school. Walker also continues to treat patients at Memorial. They include a number of individuals, many of whom are doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel, as well as people staying at the hospital or those scheduled for heart surgery. “They need to have their mouth in good working order without infection,” Walker said. “If they have an abscessed tooth, it needs to be out.” Walker, a Dunbar native, graduated from WVU’s dental school in 1971 and went to work for the United States Public Health Service. His first job was on the Zuni Indian Reservation in New Mexico, where he saw mostly children. They would arrive by the busload. “I enjoyed it as much as anything in my career,” Walker recalled.