Start:
End:
Mileage: 379 miles
Route taken: Interstate 80 to
Route 84 to Route 92 to Interstate 74 exit at
After a day of rest on Sunday, I was ready to get on the
Harley and push further east, but I had a couple of obligations I had
to attend
to.
The first was another radio interview with
It was a cloudless day, but I knew as I got closer to the
Illinois/Ohio border it was going to cloud up. I wasn’t even sure if I
would
get that far.
Right before
It is 217,000 square feet, with 58,000 square feet housing
everything from a barbershop, movie theater, restaurant, gift shop and
game
arcade. The facility is also planned for a 17,000 square foot
expansion.
Up the stairs and sandwiched between the barbershop and the
facility offices is Dr. Thomas Roemer. The 44-year-old dentist has been
at the
truckstop since 1993, giving up his general practice for this location.
Interstate Dental thrives along Interstate 80 off of exit
284, 15 miles from
The dentist is a one-man office, doing cleanings as well as
dental work. He even does the paperwork and acts as office manager,
emptying
the trash and answering the phone.
And the phone rings regularly. Roemer is one of three known
truck stop dentists. The others are in
Roemer, who lives 15 minutes from the truckstop, estimates 90
percent of his business is tooth extractions. Roemer doesn’t take
insurance,
cash or credit cards only. Many truckers
don’t have dental insurance and the choice of caring for a hurting
tooth is
often a financial one.
“It’s either going to cost $100 for me to pull it or 400 to
800 dollars to root canal it. It’s not that they didn’t want to save
it, but
they don’t have the money.”
Deborah Bartlett doesn’t have that dilemma. Her tooth is in
pain and she wants it out.
“I always say if you are bored here, you would be bored
anywhere,” Roemer said. “I don’t even know if some of the truckers know
there
is a movie theater here.”
Freshly showered,
That is just 12 shy of the doctor’s record.
“I have had up to 13 extractions on a guy at one time,”
Roemer said. “One of these guys I don’t think there was any visible
tooth
structure above his gum line. They were all down to the gum line and we
took
them all out.”
There are no appointments, but truckers will call Roemer’s
cell phone from the road and tell them what is hurting and how far from
the
office.
Roemer’s schedule is flexible. He tries to be in the office six
days a week and is available Sunday if the patient wants to pay the
emergency
fee he charges.
The dress for Roemer is as casual as his office hours. He is
in blue shorts, with tennis shoes and a red polo shirt, covered by a
blue
smock. He looks more prepared for a golf outing than pulling teeth.
“I just enjoy the work that I do out here,” Roemer said. “I
enjoy the clients that I have. Granted it’s not as busy, but it’s less
stress,
less overhead and a little more freedom, though I probably work more
hours now
because it is walk in. it can be hit and miss.”
There is often periods of sitting for Roemer, but when he
gets a patient he knows they will be grateful.
“The appreciation factor out here is great,” Roemer said. “I
had a guy call me, I took six teeth out, and he called me the next day
and he
said “Dr. Tom, you are the man, I feel great, I don’t have any pain.
Thanks for
all the help.” In my regular practice I probably had two people in 12
years
call me and thank me.”
Sometimes truckers get a little agitated when they show up at
Roemer’s office.
“The drivers are all pretty good guys,” he said. “The only
time I have a problem is when the guy is standing on the other side of
the
counter and he is in a lot of pain. I can understand that. That happens
very
rarely.”
One patient was so thankful, he sent Roemer a gift.
“I had one guy send me six or seven sequenced two dollar
bills,” Roemer said. “It wasn’t even for the bill. It was just a thank
you.
That was really neat. I would never see that at my other office.”
“Thank you very much,” she mumbles through gauze that is in
her mouth. “I feel a lot better.”
Roemer thanks her, puts a hand on her shoulder and shows her
out of the room, giving her last-minute instructions. She smiles as she
leaves.
“You wouldn’t wish a toothache on anybody,” Roemer said.
“Fortunately
I got them where I want them, they are in pain. Anybody who is going to
take
someone out of pain is going to appreciate them.
“I have a standing joke out here, I tell them the only thing
I want to hurt, and hopefully not to bad, is their wallet,” Roemer
said. “If I
can get you in and out without causing anymore pain, than I am happy.”
It was refreshing to see someone in the medical profession
who wasn’t after the copay. I know a woman who is a nurse who said the
office
motto is “Meet em, greet em and street em.”
I have never been a fan of Western medicine, which seems to
want to throw pills at the problem and move on to the next patient.
When I
worked in a pharmacy we would have people come in and they were
actually
disappointed if they went and saw their doctor and didn’t get a
prescription.
While I was pondering that I came across
There was an exit just before the
State Route 84 parallels the river for about five miles and
there are homes and recreation sites along the river banks.
The town turns to the right and I was able to cross the river
again before jumping back onto Interstate 74.
I needed gas and stopped in a
There I witnessed one of the saddest events I have ever seen.
It was a couple and their two young daughters. The couple was
not together and in separate cars. The father had apparently had the
girls for
the weekend and in this gas station off the highway an exchange was
taking
place.
Only the youngest girl didn’t want to go. She was about 3 and
in the back seat crying. The mom stood patiently outside of the car
while the
father was trying to coax the girl to go with her mom.
They must have stood there for 15 minutes, not saying more
than a couple of brief sentences between the two. The oldest girl was
in the
mom’s car staring out the window at nothing.
Finally they got the girl out of the car and she kissed her
dad, who didn’t want her to go either, but was a lot more brave about
it.
The two adults started their cars, nodded to each other and
went separate directions out of the gas station.
I filled up the bike, and headed towards the freeway with the
image of that little girl in my head. She stuck with me until I stopped
for the
evening in