House-Calling Dentist Makes Patients Feel at Home

--Dr. Joseph Ryne makes house calls. The dentist has filled cavities at the kitchen table, done root-canal work in the living room and performed bedside oral surgery. It’s all part of his portable practice, which brings dentistry to the homebound. Ryne, 33, of the Chicago suburb of Hinsdale, makes house calls to the “truly homebound”--the elderly, handicapped and others for whom a trip to the dentist is more than just an inconvenience. With the help of a dental assistant, Ryne carts around his mini-office--a black bag filled with dental tools and supplies and a five-pound air compressor that powers two drills. Ryne said the equipment fits neatly in the back seat of his car and is easily assembled. Because every home is different, he said, “We improvise a lot.” Lillian Clubb recalled a recent visit by Ryne, who has filled and cleaned her husband’s teeth. Robert Clubb, 71, is a stroke victim. “We just set up the bridge table in the living room,” she said. “It was a cloudy day, so I offered him this great big flashlight we used to take fishing, and he used that.”

--Four Americans in Canada stepped out on the Arctic ice to begin a 280-mile trip to the North Pole. Theirs was the first of three expeditions due to set out for the pole this week. A British policeman is to make a solo attempt on foot and a French doctor plans to go by skis. The Americans, led by Mike McGuire from Omaha, started from the tip of Ward Hunt Island in the high Arctic. They expect the trip to take about 70 days. British Constable Clive Johnson, who normally pounds out about 10 miles a day on his beat in Buxton, Derbyshire, arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, to prepare for his journey. He said he intends to be the first person to walk alone to the true North Pole without air support or dogs. Paris physician Jean-Louis Etienne plans to ski to the North Pole from Ward Hunt Island later this week.

--After eight years and 92,000 miles, the only police car in Otis, Mass. (pop. 359), has chased its last speeder. “The old girl finally gave up the ghost,” Police Chief Ronald W. Perry said. The cruiser hadn’t been the same since a tree fell on it last year. “The floorboards were gone and it was pretty well worn out,” Perry said. And, as he was driving home from the garage with a big “Rejected” sign on the windshield, the radiator blew up.