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The problem doesn't disappear with age either. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
estimate that nearly 50 percent of Americans over 30 suffer from periodontitis, which destroys the
gum tissue and bone that supports teeth and the jaw. In adults over 65, that number jumps to over
70 percent. In advanced cases, affecting nearly 9 percent of Americans, it can cause tooth loss,
pneumonia, poor pregnancy outcomes, and chronic inflammation, increasing the risk of diabetes,
cardiovascular disease, and stroke. Additional costs associated with these systemic health problems
as a result of poor oral health also contributes to otherwise preventable healthcare spending.
Chronic illness management costs the U.S. healthcare system nearly $300 billion annually.
Herein lies the economic incentive-in addition to improving the quality of U.S. healthcare-for
hospital administrators and policymakers to design and implement health system models to alleviate
disparities between access to dental care and medical care.
Local and state governments should expand dental clinics within Federally Qualified Health Centers
(FQHCs), of which the Affordable Care Act allotted $11 billion in new funds, and other community
health centers in low-income areas. Less than 60 percent of FQHCs offer dental services, and those
that do provide significantly limited adult dental care. While only about 2 percent of the dental
workforce provides care within FQHCs, the 2009 Children's Health Insurance Program
Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) stipulated that FQHCs may contract with private dentists to provide
dental care to health center patients in private dental offices. Increasing the number of private
dentists who contract with federally supported health centers may increase dental coverage to
underserved populations and, given the increased patient pool, incentivizes dentists, particularly
recent graduates, to contract with FQHCs.
Finally, establishing literacy campaigns in conjunction with the expansion of FQHC dental coverage,
either through coordination with federal insurance programs, dental care companies, or media
partnerships, will be essential in improving oral health education and utilization of dental services
among newly eligible Medicaid beneficiaries, because no one deserves to lose their life to a
toothache.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nisarg-patel/a-killer-toothache-how-us-dental-care-became-a-national
-emergency_b_7835660.html