Caswell A. Evans, Jr., D.D.S., M.P.H.
Potomac, MD
Oral Health Initiatives/Public Health

Playing stoopball on the streets in Harlem carries bittersweet memories for Dr. Caswell Evans. At a young age, while retrieving a ball from the fire escape, he fell and pushed his teeth up into his gums. "It was the rules of 'the hood' to retrieve your own ball, probably to encourage you not to get a home run," laughed Dr. Evans, an avid toy train collector.

After spending many days in the orthodontist's chair to repair the damage, he decided that was how he'd like to spend his future. Fortunate to attend Columbia University dental school, Dr. Evans decided to direct his career path toward public health because he felt prevention was equally as important as treatment. "In dental school, we were taught restorative methods using gold. I knew that was expensive, which got me to thinking there must be methods of prevention that could eliminate the problem in the first place."

While serving as the director of public health for Los Angeles County, California, Dr. Evans was approached to become the project director and executive editor of Oral Health in America: A Report of the U.S. Surgeon General. "This document provides a very important message. Oral health is part of general health; it's not an out-of-body experience. While surgeon generals' reports are not intended to be policy, they do help to establish a framework." Dr. Evans also worked on a second report highlighting the actions that need to be taken to address pertinent oral health issues. "To be part of fashioning that message and to pull all this together has been very rewarding. It's a one-of-a-kind experience. For the U.S. Surgeon General to publish a report on oral health underscores its importance," said Dr. Evans.

The biggest challenge he sees is getting the general public to appreciate the importance of oral health. Dr. Evans believes "it's about oral health literacy. The words we speak. The food we eat. Our smile. The emotions we express. Our sense of self. The ability to get a job. These are all intimately connected to oral health. It affects our entire personality, but unfortunately, for too many people it gets distilled down to a tooth or a hole in a tooth. The issues of oral health far exceed matters of teeth."

The future, he believes, is rich with opportunity. His past is filled with many gratifying experiences, including the opportunity to attend the March on Washington in 1964 to hear Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s unforgettable public address. "To share in that moment makes me proud," said the father of two with wife, Arlene.