Dental Care

In Alaska, comprehensive dental care is provided for all active-duty personnel. Family members of active-duty personnel should be enrolled in the TRICARE Family Member Dental Plan administered by MetLife. Active-duty personnel and their family members who would like to speak to a customer service enrollment representative for the TRICARE Dental Plan, call 855-638-8371. United Concordia administers the TRICARE Dental Program (TDP) for active-duty personnel in the region; call 866-984-2337. The benefit enrollment service is available online at www.tricare.mil/bwe.

FORT WAINWRIGHT

Fort Wainwright’s Troop Dental Clinic is co-located with the Kamish Medical Clinic in Building 3406 on South Gate Road. Clinic hours for routine care are 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, and 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Dental sick call is 7 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday. The dental clinic is closed to routine appointments 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday for military training. The telephone number for the Troop Dental Clinic is 907-353-2917.

The Hospital Dental Clinic in Bassett Army Community Hospital offers general dentistry and oral and maxillofacial surgery services. Clinic hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. some Thursdays for training. Sick call hours are 7:30 to 9 a.m. Examinations are conducted 7:30 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. daily. The clinic is closed to routine appointments 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The clinic phone number is 907-873-4210. Emergency dental care is available 24 hours a day. During normal duty hours, individuals should report to their assigned dental clinic; after duty hours, report to the Bassett Army Community Hospital emergency room for evaluation and treatment. Acute emergencies, such as uncontrolled, excessive bleeding following oral surgery, facial swelling, fever associated with dental infection, oral lacerations, facial trauma and sudden severe toothache will be evaluated at any time, day or night. A parent or guardian must accompany minors (persons younger than 18 years of age) when requesting emergency dental care.

PREVENTIVE AND SELF-CARE

Arctic Health Link

Mission: Health Promotion/Prevention through education and awareness.

Scope of Practice: To educate and promote healthy behaviors by encouraging all of our beneficiaries to take an active role in maintaining the health and well-being of themselves and their family. To decrease medical appointments by providing preventive health education along with community outreach programs to the Fort Wainwright populace. Arctic Health Link initiatives are based on the Healthy People 2000 and 2010 directives and utilize the National Health Observance Calendar. Other community outreach programs are provided as needed specific to Fort Wainwright’s population-based data. Most important, we are the “link” for beneficiaries to other agencies on Fort Wainwright that provide community health resources and education. Arctic Health Link is on the second floor of Fort Wainwright’s Bassett Army Community Hospital.

Arctic Health Link offers an online self-care class to enable you to receive over-the-counter medications from your local MEDDAC pharmacy. This class provides an orientation to self-care tools noted in the “Take Care of Yourself” book and offers a brief overview of how to access health care at Fort Wainwright. Upon completion of this class, TRICARE beneficiaries may obtain a select group of nonprescription medications — at no cost — from the pharmacy.

Arctic Health Link offers a series of classes and programs in a traditional classroom setting:

• Allergy and Asthma: This class educates those with allergies and/or asthma on how to reduce the attacks while also lowering the need for medication and clinic visits.
• Cholesterol: This two-hour class provides information on nutritional and physical fitness methods for reducing the total cholesterol level and improving the HDL/LDL ratio, while bolstering overall health.
• Diabetes: This 1½-hour class provides information on nutritional and physical fitness methods for reducing blood glucose levels while promoting overall health.
• Hypertension: This one-hour class provides information on nutritional and physical fitness methods for lowering blood pressure.
• Tobacco Use Cessation: Individual 30-minute sessions are available by appointment on Tuesdays and Thursdays to educate and support those who want to quit using tobacco.

To schedule a class or for more information, call 907-361-4148. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.