Newport Independent - News

Staggering health survey results released:

Newport Arkansas is fluoridated and so is most of Jackson County Arkansas, yet:

"63% reported permanent teeth extraction"

New CariFree Website Increases Patients' Dental IQ: This Is Not Just Your Average Shopping Cart - Yahoo! News

New CariFree Website Increases Patients' Dental IQ: This Is Not Just Your Average Shopping Cart - Yahoo! News:

After over 60 years of water fluoridation and 50 years of fluoridated toothpaste:

"The CDC reports that dental decay is one of the most prevalent diseases in the U.S. affecting 68% of kids by the time they are 19.

27% of adults ages 20-39, 21% of adults ages 40-59, and 19% of adults ages 60 have untreated dental caries."

Keeping your teeth healthy | Spartanburg, South Carolina | GoUpstate.com | Spartanburg Herald-Journal

Keeping your teeth healthy | Spartanburg Herald-Journal:

South Carolina is 91% fluoridated:

"In South Carolina, more than half of children younger than 8 years old have experienced tooth decay, and about one third have untreated tooth decay, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control."

Clinic’s shortage of dentists leads to restrictions in care - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register

Clinic’s shortage of dentists leads to restrictions in care - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register

The state of Illinois has been fluoridated for decades:


That’s because a shortage of dentists — caused by the unexpected loss of one staff dentist and decisions by two new recruits to pull out before their arrival — has prompted the health center’s board to temporarily restrict new dental appointments to patients 20 and younger.

“I’m at the point where I can’t hardly eat at all,” said Tebrugge, 26, of Springfield. Tebrugge, a newspaper carrier and personal caregiver, has no dental insurance. She had hoped to get her remaining teeth pulled so she can receive dentures from a Jacksonville dentist in September.

Tebrugge and hundreds of other low-income adults may have to wait two or three more months.

The not-for-profit center at 2239 E. Cook St. doesn’t advertise the low-cost dental program. But word has spread quickly among people covered by Medicaid, who often have problems finding dentists willing to accept Medicaid reimbursements. People without Medicaid, private dental insurance or the money to pay for care from Sangamon County’s 150 private dentists also found the center’s sliding-scale fees more affordable.

It’s hard to retain dentists at a community clinic, Olson said. The center pays young dentists a competitive wage — about $110,000 annually. But in private practice, he said dentists can make more money in the long run.

Keep your smile bright by sipping right drinks - Huntington, WV -- The Herald-Dispatch

Keep your smile bright by sipping right drinks :

"sports drinks and bubbly sodas actually wear away enamel -- even from teeth that have been coated with fluoride."

Personal wealth determines health of teeth | NEWS.com.au

Personal wealth determines health of teeth | NEWS.com.au: Even though 75% of Australia is fluoridated, "POORER Australians have fewer teeth, research shows.

They also have more decay, and are more likely to have no teeth at all."

Dental benefits widen, waiting lines grow - The Boston Globe

Dental benefits widen, waiting lines grow - The Boston Globe:

Boston is fluoridated:

"Two years into the state's bold healthcare experiment, its early success in expanding dental coverage may be threatened by a shortage of dentists willing to treat newly insured patients.

"The problem is that just 17 percent of dentists statewide have been willing to see these newly insured patients, despite reforms intended to boost their ranks. Even some of these dentists are limiting the number of state-subsidized patients they will treat."

"As part of the healthcare law, the state changed a rule to encourage dentists to treat at least some patients covered by Commonwealth Care or its Medicaid program, called MassHealth. The old rules mandated that dentists who accepted even one subsidized patient had to accept all such patients. Now, the state allows dentists to limit the number of poor patients they accept. That has helped increase the number of practicing dentists who are willing to see poor patients from about 10 percent to 17 percent, according to a Globe analysis of public records.

Of that 17 percent, one in five have already closed their doors to new subsidized patients, said Dr. Catherine Hayes, a professor at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine."

Dentist shortage requires city to temporarily stop children's oral exams at clinic - El Paso Times

Dentist shortage requires city to temporarily stop children's oral exams at clinic :

"Dentist shortage requires city to temporarily stop children's oral exams at clinic

EL PASO - Because of a shortage of dentists, effective Thursday, the city will temporarily cease scheduling oral exams and treatment at the children's Rawlings Dental Clinic, said Joanne Bates, spokeswoman for the city Department of Public Health."

El Paso Texas is fluoridated

Dental Advocates Fear Dentist Exodus From Denti-Cal - California Healthline

Dental Advocates Fear Dentist Exodus From Denti-Cal - California Healthline:

In California where hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to begin water fluoridation:

"Currently, about 4,000 of California's 34,000 active dentists provide 97% of all services to Denti-Cal (gov't insurance for low-come residents) beneficiaries, according to the Dental Health Foundation.

That number is dropping, but nobody is sure how fast."

"Rosenstein said documentation requirements were reduced in response to lawsuits. As a result, 'the dental program became a very high fraud area. We had common situations in which providers -- sometimes not even dentists -- would pay children and parents to come in for dental treatment. They'd provide a large number of unnecessary dental procedures -- pinprick fillings in kids' teeth -- and bill for them.

'We took aggressive action and, unfortunately because of fraud and abuse, we increased documentation standards,' Rosenstein said.

More dentists feeling economic pain - mlive.com

More dentists feeling economic pain - mlive.com

"In a painfully slow economy, more dental patients are delaying the decision to put their money where their mouths are.

The biggest blockade to regular dental care is a lack of insurance benefits.

Although Grand Rapids and 86% of Michigan is fluoridated,'Emergency dentistry is booming. When people put off maintenance, it usually results in an extraction,' Thorson said."

Casper Star-Tribune Online - Breaking

Casper Star-Tribune Online - Breaking:

Fewer Utah dentists are willing to see new Medicaid patients, despite four consecutive annual increases in Medicaid reimbursement rates.


"And it's not just new patients who can't find care. Data from the Utah Division of Health Care Financing also shows that overall the number of dentists who see Medicaid patients is dropping. In the current fiscal year about 50 fewer dentists submitted a single Medicaid claim form than were submitted two years ago.

'Dentists and physicians are dropping off at just an alarming rate,' said Sen. Allen Christensen, R-Ogden, a dentist who estimates at least half of his patients are on Medicaid.

'The dentists do not need the patients. They're busy enough with their regular-paying clients,' he said. 'But the patients need the dentists. It's an ongoing battle.'"

Fewer dentists accept Medicaid patients - Salt Lake Tribune:
"By the time Medicaid patient Tawnee Wood got an appointment at the Community Dental Center in Smithfield, she'd dialed at least a dozen other dentist's offices - all over the state.

Her experience isn't unique. Fewer Utah dentists are accepting new Medicaid patients - or seeing them at all - a fact that can literally be painfully obvious to those who are seeking treatment."

"The dentists do not need the patients. They're busy enough with their regular-paying clients," he said. "But the patients need the dentists. It's an ongoing battle."

Dentists Treat Hundreds Within Hours For Free - Health News Story - WPTZ Plattsburgh

Dentists Treat Hundreds Within Hours For Free - Health News Story - WPTZ Plattsburgh:

Plattsburg NY is fluoridated:

"The High Peaks Dental team of three dentists cared for close to 200 patients in three hours on Saturday -- for free.

Doctors and volunteers offered free fillings, extractions, teeth cleanings and X-rays as part of its Dentistry from the Heart program."

Dentistry

Virginia is 94% fluoridated

Dentistry:

Aug. 2--An annual health fair that brought more than 1,500 volunteer doctors, nurses, dentists, optometrists and others to far Southwest Virginia last weekend performed $1.7 million worth of medical work for free

"--Dental -- 3,896 extractions, 1,833 fillings, 21 full sets of dentures, 249 cleanings, 45 root canals, 59 sealants, 15 stainless steel crowns, 1,113 X-rays and two oral biopsies, for 1,342 patients."