Healthcare journal Health Affairs has explored the divide between oral healthcare and general medical care and has found that the split has “significant consequences” for patients that are avoidable. Though the Affordable Care Act expanded insurance for many African Americans, there is still a significant number of US citizens without dental insurance. 12.8% of US adults have actively chosen to forgo dental treatment because of the extra cost, with 4.3% of children and 7.2% of seniors over the age of 65 also missing dental treatment. The government has made wide efforts to improve general oral health, including water fluoridation programs by the CDC. In 2013, 211m US citizens had access to fluoridated water at a cost of $324m, with the resulting savings from the lower rates of tooth decay reaching $6.469bn. Young adult AmericansAfrican Americans’ oral health has improved as access to Medicaid has increased 28%, decreasing the chance of permanent loss of teeth by 8% to 10%. The campaign for better dental health care is supported by the Gary and Mary West Foundation.
Healthcare journal Health Affairs has explored the divide between oral healthcare and general medical care and has found that the split has “significant consequences” for patients that are avoidable. Though the Affordable Care Act expanded insurance for many Americans, there is still a significant number of US citizens without dental insurance. 12.8% of US adults have actively chosen to forgo dental treatment because of the extra cost, with 4.3% of children and 7.2% of seniors over the age of 65 also missing dental treatment. The government has made wide efforts to improve general oral health, including water fluoridation programs by the CDC. In 2013, 211m US citizens had access to fluoridated water at a cost of $324m, with the resulting savings from the lower rates of tooth decay reaching $6.469bn. Young adult African Americans’ oral health has improved as access to Medicaid has increased 28%, decreasing the chance of permanent loss of teeth by 8% to 10%. The campaign for better dental health care is supported by the Gary and Mary West Foundation.