Daniel Huber
Area
Dental Consultant
![desk Photo 1[1]_2](files/page36_1.jpg)
Daniel
Huber, Quinault, DMD, is the Area Dental Consultant of
the Phoenix Area Indian Health Service. His many high
level duties include being responsible for planning,
disbursing, spending and reconciling the $10,000,000
dental category funds to Phoenix Area Service Units
and tribal programs. “Consultation is my main work,”
Huber says. “I try to support the dental chiefs and
the staff at about 22 dental clinics located in Utah,
Nevada and Arizona. I give them technical and program
advice.”
Some of the programs that Huber supports are IHS; others
are the tribal programs that provide some funds to support
his services. (Some tribal programs operate entirely on
their own.) Part of Huber’s job is assisting tribes who
want to take over all or some of their program.
Huber is also responsible for developing, implementing and
monitoring dental prevention programs for service units and
communities in the Phoenix area. “All the clinics do a good
job with prevention,” says Huber. “It takes 30 minutes to
fill and tooth and 2/12 hours to do a root canal.
Preventing tooth decay save times and it can save people a
lot of pain.” The staff of the outreach programs go to Head
Start and schools where they educate the children and paint
fluoride on the children’s teeth. The staff also does
prevention at health fairs.
Recruiting new dentists and hygienists, providing
development for non-clinical staff, and assisting with
personnel actions are also Huber’s tasks. In addition, he
protects one half day per week so he can care for patients.
People-Oriented
Work
Huber was raised in the Portland area. At Oregon State
University Huber was a general science major. Initially he
wanted to go into research but after doing some research he
decided he wanted to use his science background but do
something that was more people oriented. When his roommate,
who wanted to be a dentist, found that he had an extra
application for dental school, he offered it to Huber who
filled it out and sent it in. When Huber was accepted at
the School of Dentistry at Oregon Health and Science
University, he decided this would be a good fit with his
interests, so he enrolled.
Upon graduation, Huber joined the IHS and became a staff
dental officer at Pine Ridge Indian Hospital in South
Dakota. He worked in the hospital three days a week and
spent the other two days seeing patients at
Manderson/Wounded Knee satellite clinic.
At the Manderson clinic he established a dental program for
Head Start children and for people with diabetes. He also
created a sealant program at Wounded Knee District School.
“This work was fun and made me realize how much I enjoy
pediatric dentistry. When I first arrived, the kids didn’t
want to go to the dentist. We had a trailer across from the
school, but nobody wanted to go there. By the time I left,
they all wanted to go.”
How did Huber change kids’ attitudes about going to the
dentist? “By building trust” Huber says. “Starting out
slowly and being nice. Giving them a little toy at the end
of a visit plus ‘high 5s’”.
The children, in turn, uplifted Huber’s spirits. “They were
a lot of fun. They have so much energy and enthusiasm,” he
muses.
In 1990, Huber moved to New Mexico where he spent two years
as Chief of the Tohatchi Dental Clinic, a satellite clinic
of the Gallup Indian Medical Center. In addition to caring
for patients, he provided education and some preventive
care in three local schools, a special education facility,
7 Head Start centers and the local community.
Developing Skills
Next Huber began a two-year-long advanced general practice
residency program at Phoenix Indian Medical Center in
Arizona. Huber is grateful to IHS for giving him this
opportunity. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this
residency if I was in the private sector” he explained.
“Developing higher-level skills and dealing with
complicated cases made me feel like a strong and good
dentist.” Working in the hospital as well as the clinic
also gave Huber opportunities to collaborate with doctors
and other professionals and to learn more about the medical
issues of some of his patients. “IHS is a special
institution. It’s not as hierarchal as a university
setting. We’ll all depend on each other – physicians,
pharmacists, mid-level providers [e.g., physician
assistants and nurse practitioners].”
Following his residency program, Huber became Deputy Chief
of the Phoenix Service Unit Dental Program at the Phoenix
Indian Medical Center. He spent 60% of his time caring for
patients. The managerial responsibilities that took the
rest of his time helped prepare him for his current
position.
Advice
“Get a strong science background in high school so you’ll
be able to handle the science classes in college,” Huber
recommends. “Talk with dentists. When they know about your
career interest, they’ll be glad to tell you what their day
entails and show you around. Shadowing is more difficult
now than it used to be, but it’s possible to be respectful
of patient privacy and still show students the lab and
other behind-the-scenes things.”
Huber also says, “Once you’re in college, get a good
pre-dental advisor who knows how the system works and can
advise you on the classes to take.”
This article was originally published in the Spring 2007
issue of
Winds of Change. (The cover
artist, Buffalo Gouge, Creek and Cherokee, works with
bright colors. Portraits are his main interest. For more
information visit Art Exchange Galleries