The activity at Camp Ripley began September 6, 2005, the bulk of it over a two-week period when 2,600 National Guard soldiers from Minnesota were put through the deployment screening facility. Minnesota is going through the largest deployment of National Guard troops since World War II — 2,600 out of approximately 11,000. Add this to the already 1,600 deployed and it brings the number to about one third of the state's National Guard strength.

The facility provides a number of activities to prepare soldiers to be sent abroad, most to Iraq. There are many stations: soldiers can work on their wills, seek family support, see a chaplain or an attorney. There is a station for those who are going to school. Screenings include personnel, medical, dental, and more.

About 200 persons a day went through the facility during those intense two weeks. Dental exams included X-rays and categorization as to oral health status. Just last spring the National Guard underwent a significant upgrade in equipment, having had very rudimentary tools previously. This has been a major change. They used to have the soldier sit in a folding chair, put his head back, and they'd shine a flashlight into the mouth.

Minnesota is the first state in the nation for a deployment of this size, and it is of major importance to send soldiers abroad without oral health problems. Thus this is not just screening on a large scale — any problems are taken care of, either on site in mobil care dental vans or by civilian dentists, in which case the National Guard will pay 100% for certain approved procedures.

Many of these soldiers, however, are fearful of the dentist or have not seen a dentist since they were very young, perhaps never. They are screened by National Guard personnel such as Dr. Kristin Rajala, who is a major. Her tour of duty in Iraq over, Dr. Rajala was at Camp Ripley as part of her continued service with the Guard.

Once screened, the soldiers are sent to the on-site vans or to their own dentists. Funding for the latter, however, is available only when they are to be deployed, and not all procedures, will be paid for.

Exams place soldiers into four categories: Class one, good care has been taken, wisdom teeth removed etc; Class two, normal — some care needed; Classes 3 and 4 have to be addressed before a soldier can be deployed. Class three includes broken teeth, at-risk wisdom teeth, or substantial caries; four is simply a more severe form of 3.

Soldiers go from Minnesota to Mississippi — except, of course, those areas hit by the hurricanes. That was one more permutation of the havoc left by those storms. Oral surgery is the greatest need; a high portion is wisdom teeth that need to be taken out. Retired oral surgeons are much sought after to be hired to do extractions and other such services.

OnSite Dental, which provides the mobil care vans, is headquartered in California but travels all over the country. OnSite began operations following 9-11, and tells us its dentists "must like to travel". A Dr. Jones from OnSite told Mr. Diercks, "To do this kind of work, with all this travel and time away from home, you have to have a heart for the military. The people we are taking care of are willing to take a bullet for their country and for us. So I want to do what I can to give back."

Of the soldiers being processed, about 25% come from urban areas; the rest rural. One quarter to one third need some dental work before they can be deployed; about five percent need extremely extensive dental care.

Though OnSite has since left, the National Guard is always seeking dentists on occasional contract work. However, they do need more dentists in the National Guard, and anyone interested in making this connection may contact Dr. Rajala.

The people operating this facility were extremely proud of the job they were able to do for our Minnesota National Guard soldiers; in fact, when our troops arrive down south, one look at a chart showing a Minnesota screening and they say, "Go head — you're fine".

The soldiers are on 18-month tours of duty; six in the U.S., 12 overseas.

Asked to sum up his experience at Camp Ripley, Dick Diercks said, "This is about military dentistry in Minnesota. It's about taking care of Minnesota National Guardsmen and women who are being deployed to duty overseas, including making sure their oral health needs are being taken care of. I really had quite an experience up at Camp Ripley. Dr. Rajala's tour gave me a considerable respect for the job that they do dentally in Minnesota's National Guard as well as continued respect for those who are being sent abroad. The MDA was there to show its respects and to appreciate and to learn."