Blog Posts by Ashfaq Rahman

Some came to have teeth pulled. Others had loose fillings and painful cavities. A few needed dentures.

Saturday, about 30 Cowlitz County military veterans and their families said "Aaaaaaahhh" for University of Washington dental school students and faculty, who spent the day providing free oral screenings and treatment at the Longview Salvation Army and Kaiser Permanente.

The university has offered free dental clinics for low-income patients in Longview since 1999, but Saturday was the first time UW and its local health partners focused on veterans.

"What we're seeing are people who have not had dental care - not even emergency care - for years," said UW dental hygienist Marilynn Rothen, one of 70 volunteers who participated in Saturday's clinic, including 42 from UW.

According to Helen Reid, auxiliary president of the Kalama VFW Post 10435, veterans' dental care isn't covered by the federal Veteran's Administration unless the veteran suffered mouth injuries during

Andy Alas is a different kind of dentist. He gives you something to smile about before he goes to work fussing over your cavities and your failure to floss.There on the walls of his La Verne practice are handsomely framed photos of him with former first lady Barbara Bush, Barbara Eden ("I Dream of Jeanie"), Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner and the gyrating Chubby Checker, inventor of the "Twist." A check in his vast library of photos will show he's met every U.S. president from Nixon through Clinton.

For anxious patients, looking at fun celebrity photos sure beats thumbing though old issues of Prevention, Family Circle and Good Housekeeping magazines, the usual stock and trade of most dental offices.

Dr. Alas' gallery of stars numbers in the hundreds. It is so extensive in fact that he has to regularly rotate the photos. What's his secret to gaining access to so many celebrities? Was he a former bodyguard, CIA operative or Secret Service agent before becoming a dentist?

Entry into a pharmacy career starts with the mandatory 4-hour pharmacy admission test. Sounds tough? You bet it is tough but only if you go in unprepared for it. The pharmacy admission test is a 240-multiple-choice question paper. The test is so exhausting that the authorities had to incorporate a 30-minute break in it. Fortunately, as of last year (2011) you do not have to carry a pen to the pharmacy admission test - it is now conducted exclusively on the computer. This however, has not made it any easier for the student. Instead, it makes it quicker and easier for the evaluator to evaluate the student and is also environmentally friendly as no paper is used.

There are three ways you can prepare for the pharmacy admission test:

1. Obtain the necessary books and study.
2. Obtain the necessary books as well as previous question papers and study these.
3. Obtain the necessary books and signup for an online practice PCAT exam prep course.

The first prepares you for the

NEGRIL, Westmoreland: STUDENTS OF Green Island Primary School in Hanover were on Wednesday treated to free dental check-up and gifts through Great Shape! Inc and Sandal Foundation's community-based free dental sealant programmed.

The programmed is also in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and is designed to reduce dental cavities in Jamaican children by half.

Several health facilities, as well as schools in Hanover and Westmoreland, will benefit from the programmed. Great Shape! Inc volunteers will be leaving most of their dental equipment with local health facilities, thus cutting cost and raising the availability of the sealant programmed to as many Jamaican children as possible.

The Gleaner was at the school on Wednesday to watch the sealant programmed in action. Yvonne Nelson, a nurse from the Green Island Health Centre, said the programmed is beneficial, as she and other health professionals have learnt new techniques and have also been sensitized to new