JS Online: New clinic to help take a bite out of tooth decay

JS Online: New clinic to help take a bite out of tooth decay:

In 90% fluoridated Wisconsin,"nearly one out of every four children at Head Start centers and one-fifth of third graders have untreated tooth decay, which can interfere with their abilities to talk, eat and learn.

According to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, 1,092 emergency department visits at four Waukesha County Hospitals in 2005 were for dental problems; 40% of those patients were either uninsured or eligible for Medicaid."

Filling a gap in Bay State dental care - The Boston Globe

Filling a gap in Bay State dental care - The Boston Globe:

"IMAGINE walking into a dentist's office with a severe toothache and being told by the dentist that there is good news and bad news. The good news is that because you are poor, you qualify for free dental care from the state in the state's Medicaid program, MassHealth. The bad news is that your dentist won't be able to treat your toothache because he or she only takes patients who have private insurance or who can pay out-of-pocket.

Unfortunately, this is not the exception but the norm in the delivery of oral healthcare in Massachusetts. Of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, 69 do not have a single dentist. Of the communities with dentists, 30 percent don't have enough to care for all the people who live there."

Instead of filling cavities, dentists in Massachusetts would rather fill your water with fluoride.

Dental Needs Unmet | Local News | Fox 61 WTIC-TV Connecticut

Dental Needs Unmet | Local News | Fox 61 WTIC-TV Connecticut:

In Connecticut, fluoridation is state-mandated: "At least 1 million Connecticut residents, and possibly as many as 1.5 million — more than one-third of the state — lack dental insurance, according to the state dental association, and a new state medical plan for the uninsured, which includes tens of thousands of children, will not help."

"More than 1,000 of those uninsured people braved driving rain, lightning and long lines in the pre-dawn chill this past weekend to take advantage of Connecticut's Mission of Mercy, the state's first large-scale free dental clinic that opened for two days in Tolland."

"It's overwhelming," said a stunned Williams as he stood in the crowded clinic about 7 a.m. "If there is any doubt in people's minds about the need for greater access to health care, people should come here and see this."

" Of the approximately 3,000 licensed dentists in the state, only about 400 take HUSKY clients. Of those, only about 100 take HUSKY patients as a large part of their business,"

Medicaid dental-care gap widens

Medicaid dental-care gap widens:

Binghmatom, NY's is fluoridated: "'There are so many people who have gone without care walking around with multiple infected teeth,' said Wilson, a recent graduate of the New York University College of Dentistry."

Dentistry

Dentistry:

In Connecticut where fluoridation is state-mandated, "Closer to the school, people were walking along the side of the road, a steady stream of dark silhouettes rising out of the morning mist like refugees in a war zone.

There were elderly couples clutching their canes, hunched-over veterans, single mothers with young children in tow. A woman on crutches limping along.

It was 5 a.m., and they came by the hundreds, a throng of pilgrims with a common goal -- free dental care."

Dentists needed to relieve wait | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader

Dentists needed to relieve wait | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader:

"Medicaid, now Mo HealthNet, the government-sponsored health care program for the disabled and low-income families, pays dentists about 30 cents for each $1 of care -- not enough to cover overhead -- so dentists limit or refuse Medicaid patients, said Dr. Patrick Bauer, an orthodontist with the Greater Springfield Dental Society.

A 1999 report by Missouri's Bureau of Dental Health found that 71 percent of all Missouri dentists did not accept any Medicaid (Mo HealthNet)."

""If everybody would take only one a month," she said, "that would solve our problems.""

"We get four new dental patients per day, so we're going to be back up to 300-plus (waiting) in no time

Missouri is 81% fluoridated.

Dental Surgeon's Fluoride Concerns - Science - redOrbit

Dental Surgeon's Fluoride Concerns - Science - redOrbit: "Dr Goddard said: 'Even if water is fluoridated, tooth decay will still occur.

Education regarding appropriate dietary habits, encouraging people to eat less sugar and visit the dentist regularly is important. Water fluoridation is not simply a means to an end.'"

Brantford Expositor - Ontario, CA

Brantford Expositor - Ontario, CA: "'Poor tooth care is very, very common among poor folks,' said Rob Rainer, executive director of the National Anti-Poverty Coalition in Ottawa. 'It's a huge issue.'

One in three workers in the country have no benefits at all because they are in contract, part-time, or self-employed work, said Rainer. 'We have a lot of parents who are struggling to put food on the table. They can't afford to buy tooth brushes and toothpaste.'"

Tooth decay among children is on the increase in Haldimand-Norfolk as cash-strapped families find it harder and harder to get to the dentist, the local health unit has reported.

AMNews: March 3, 2008. Tooth or consequences: The costs of poor dental fitness ... American Medical News:

"A few years ago, an extremely sick, 2�-year-old boy came to the [fluoridated] Houston office of pediatrician Ray Wagner, MD, with a 105-degree temperature. The illness, which required five days of hospitalization and a course of intravenous antibiotics, got its start in an infected tooth;"

"Patients also have more difficulty financing dental care. Far more lack dental than medical insurance. Medicare does not cover most dentistry. Medicaid dental coverage for adults is optional, although quite a few states do provide this benefit to some degree. Children on Medicaid have coverage, but because of low reimbursement rates and other issues associated with the program or with living in poverty, they can have a very difficult time finding a dentist who will see them. These realities mean disparities in oral health generally run directly along economic lines. According to data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, released in September 2007, 26.5% of those in poor families saw a dentist annually, while 57.9% of those from high-income families did."

Working on Hanover's crisis in dental care - Evening Sun

Working on Hanover's crisis in dental care - Evening Sun:

Hanover, Pennsylvania is fluoridated:

"In Hanover, there's an overwhelming need for affordable, accessible dental care.

It is estimated that nearly 8,000 individuals in Hanover are eligible for Medicaid, but go without dental care."

Dental Office Magazine Articles - AAPD announces partnership with Head Start to address childhood epidemic

Dental Office Magazine Articles - AAPD announces partnership with Head Start to address childhood epidemic:

"Statistics show that 30-40 percent of three-year-olds and 50-60 percent of four-year-olds in a number of Head Start programs suffer from tooth decay, which is higher than the national average among all children."

Most Head Start programs are in fluoridated inner cities and have fluoridated toothbrushing rrequirements
during classes.

Without dental care, fluoridation is a waste of money as indicated in fluoridated Tallahasse, Florida.

"TALLAHASSEE (AP) -- If a poor child in the capital city needs serious dental work, his family will probably have to drive several hours. Even in this city of more than 150,000 people, there aren't any pediatric dentistry specialists who participate in the state Medicaid program for the poor."

Statewide, there is one dentist for every 10,000 Medicaid-eligible children.

In some cases, not getting care can be very serious. Last year, Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old boy in Maryland whose family's Medicaid coverage had lapsed, died after bacteria from an untreated tooth abscess spread to his brain. A routine tooth extraction may have saved him -- but he couldn't get in quickly enough to see a Medicaid oral surgeon.

adn.com | Health : Bad water for many Alaskans, no escape from disease (9/20/1992)

In 1992


"In Hooper Bay, a sprawling Yup'ik Eskimo village of nearly 1,000 people and nearly no indoor plumbing, a 41-year-old man died and dozens of neighbors fell ill this past spring after drinking water from a village well. Dangerous levels of fluoride, intended in small doses to reduce tooth decay, were accidentally pumped into a holding tank. The village had a long history of water and sanitation problems, and like most villages, Hooper Bay didn't have a certified water operator. Also like many villages, Hooper Bay had done a spotty job of monitoring its water for contaminants, having gone nearly two years without submitting results of water monitoring to state regulators."

adn.com | Health : Bad water for many Alaskans, no escape from disease (9/20/1992):

The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia - Editorial: Nothing as vital

The Register-Herald, Editorial: "West Virginia is, and has been, in a health care crisis of mammoth proportions for a long time."

West Virginia has been fluoridated for decades