Combat Team Soldiers Can Put Bite On Axis

Soldiers of the Japanese American Combat Team in training at Camp Shelby are well equipped to put the bite on the Axis.

Routine examinations of incoming men have revealed an amazing healthy condition of their teeth, according to Capt. Wayland F. Hogan, regimental dental surgeon. Almost every volunteer examined showed the benefits of some knowledge of oral hygiene, and their dental repair work without exception, bespoke good workmanship and the latest technique, Capt. Hogan said.

But more impressive than generalities are some figures given out by the regimental dental surgeon. The records of approximately 3,800 men in each of three other regiments were put alongside those of the same number of Japanese Americans.

Comparisons

In Infantry Regiment A, out of 3,800 men, 1,000 were found to be in need of one or more extractions and 2,000 fillings; In Regiment B, 1,000 needed extractions in 1,800 fillings; in Regiment C, 1,024 needed extractions and 1,100 fillings. But among 3,800 Japanese Americans only 190 needed extractions and 650 fillings. That, says Capt. Hogan is a mighty good record among any group of Americans, in service or in civilian life.

Capt. Hogan believes these factors are responsible for the healthy teeth of the Japanese Americans: correct oral hygiene education in elementary schools, their diet during formative years, climatic conditions and efficient corrective measures. He cited, in particular, the practice of Hawaiian schools to require daily instruction in and participation in tooth-brush drills in the elementary grades and the policy of West Coast schools, especially those in California, not only to emphasize oral hygiene in the classrooms, but to have dentists and school nurses constantly to be on the lookout for dental needs among the pupils.

As to the diet during formative years, he pointed out the Japanese coming generally from working-class families could not afford the luxury goods which are hardest on teeth. Generally, as children, they are foods of high caloric value such as needed to maintain a hard-working group of people and which, incidentally, are beneficial to the proper development of the teeth.

The benefits of climate on the West Coast and in Hawaii include more than an average amount of vitamin D, likewise beneficial to teeth.

Many Dentists

Similarly, Japanese American families both in Hawaii and in California have long enjoyed the services of a proportionately large number of dentists of their own ancestry. In general, these dentists are graduates of the highest-standing and most progressive dental schools and in their zeal for their profession they have kept up with the latest techniques and methods known. To these dentists also go credit for carrying on where elementary schools leave off and encouraging constant closest attention to the teeth.

Capt. Hogan pays still another tribute to the Japanese Americans. He believes their Ability to bear pain is unequaled as a class of patients. Treating these patients, he says, is spoiling him for any civilian practice after the war. They are accustomed, he says to get in the chair, relax, keep their mouths open and take it. Rarely do they flinch when the drill narrows the sensitive tooth and their ability to withstand pain seems exceptional. The dental surgeon is of the opinion that this type of self-discipline will prove of utmost benefit in a combat organization.

Capt. Hogan's home is in Ocala, Fla. He has practiced dentistry since his graduation from the Atlanta Southern Dental College in 1929. In 1933 he served as district dental officer for the Civilian Conservation Corps supervising work in 82 camps in Tennessee and North Carolina. He has been in the army for the past 18 months serving with the 85th division before his transfer to the Combat Team in April.

Three other dental officers in the Combat Team are native Californians. First Lt. George S. Takahashi of San Mateo, First Lt. Carl T. Hirota of San Francisco, and First Lt. Yoshizawa Harada of Sacramento. Lts. Takahashi and Hirota have their degrees from the University of California and Lt. Harada graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco. All of them practiced in War Relocation Centers until commissioned in the army last spring.