Sunday, February 28, 2010

Despite widespread water fluoridation and advances in dental care, cavities were more common among children in the early 2000s than they were a decade earlier, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Cavities are alive and well in the United States," says William Berlocher, a pediatric dentist in Corpus Christi, Texas, and president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. One-third of children already have cavities by ages 3 to 5, he says.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/painter/2010-03-01-yourhealth01_ST_N.htm

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Friday, February 26, 2010

MediLexicon News - Medicaid Cuts Hurt Calif. Dental Coverage, Drive Away Doctors In Okla.; Public Hospitals In NYC Fear Possible Reductions

In California where hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent implementing fluoridation: "NPR: 'In California, it's been seven months since some 3 million poor and disabled adults lost their dental coverage to budget cuts. ... While the recession may be easing, California and other states across the country continue to face eye-popping budget deficits. As a result, states are cutting deep into public health programs, and dental benefits for Medicaid recipients top the list. ... Before the state budget cuts, Medicaid patients here could get annual exams, cleanings and, if needed, root canals to save their teeth. ... In interviews with dozens of dentists and safety-net clinics around California, providers say patients are forgoing routine cleanings and delaying care until the pain is unbearable. Dentists are offering discounts and payment plans, but they say few patients can afford them. Dental schools and free clinics are overrun, and some private dental offices and at least one community dental clinic have closed. Under federal law, dental coverage is considered an optional benefit that states don't have to provide when insuring poor or disabled residents' (Varney, 2/21)."

Dental study gives Kentucky a 'C' for effort

"Despite programs in place to help make sure Kentucky children have access to health care, more than 34 percent of Kentucky third grade age children have untreated dental problems, researchers said."

In 1977, fluoridation was state-mandated in Kentucky.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

"C" Grade For OK Child Dental Care - FOX23 News

Oklahoma is 73% fluoridated: "'C' Grade For OK Child Dental Care"

"40 percent of third graders in Oklahoma have untreated tooth decay"

Missouri gets 'C' for dental policies - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff

Missouri is 80% fluoridated: "More than 1 million Missourians lack access to dental care, and roughly 28 percent of children enrolled in Medicaid received dental care, compared with a national average of 38 percent."

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The story began in 2006 when DaShawn, then 9 years old, began having severe toothaches and mouth pain.
He had to miss school because of the pain, and at other times, had to go to class with swollen cheeks. “It hurt
all the time unless I put pressure on it,” said DaShawn, who carried around old candy wrappers to bite down on
for that purpose.

The first dentist who agreed to see DaShawn under Medicaid did a consultation but refused to take him as
a patient because the youth was fidgety and “wiggled too much in the dentist’s chair,” said Alyce Driver.

She then sought help from the Public Justice Center in Baltimore, Maryland.47 The staff obtained a list of
primary care dentists who claimed to accept DaShawn’s Medicaid managed care plan. The first 26 providers
on the list turned them down. They eventually found a primary care dentist for DaShawn, who confirmed that
he had six severely diseased teeth that needed to be pulled, and advised his mother to take him to an oral
surgeon. Alyce Driver once again turned to the Public Justice Center, which in turn consulted the Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene, the local health department and the state’s Medicaid plan. They secured the
earliest available appointment with a contracted oral surgeon—six weeks later. After an initial consultation, an
appointment was set several weeks after that to begin the extractions. But when Alyce and DaShawn Driver
showed up for the rescheduled appointment, the surgeon’s staff told them they no longer accepted Medicaid
patients, Alyce Driver said.

It was at about this time that Deamonte—whose teeth appeared to Alyce Driver to be in much better shape than
DaShawn’s—became severely ill from an infection from an abscessed tooth that had spread to his brain. He was
hospitalized, underwent two brain surgeries and died six weeks later

The next oral surgeon the Drivers found for DaShawn a month later—again with the help of the Public Justice
Center’s staff and a team of case workers—immediately pulled one tooth and agreed that five others were badly
enough infected to require extraction. But the dentist insisted that DaShawn come back to have one tooth
taken out every month for five months, said Alyce Driver. “I said, ‘Wow, am I going to lose my other son, too?’”
she recalled. The University of Maryland Dental School clinic in Baltimore agreed to take DaShawn’s case, and
removed the rest of the diseased teeth promptly.

http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Cost_of_Delay_web.pdf

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After 65 years of water fluoridation in the United States reaching 70% of the population on public water supplies and virtually 100% via the fluoride-saturated food supply:

The total costs of dental care are not insignificant. Between 2009 and 2018, annual spending for all dental services in the United States is expected to increase 58 percent. Approximately one-third of the money spent on dental services goes to services for children.

Consider the military. A 2000 study of the armed forces found that 42 percent of incoming Army recruits had at least one dental condition that needed to be treated before they could be deployed. More than 15 percent of recruits had four or more teeth in urgent need of repair.

http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/report_detail.aspx?id=57465

Hundreds Line Up for Free Health Care | Health | English

"At a recent RAM free clinic in Knoxville, Tenn., more than 50 dental chairs were full."

"Most of these people have jobs and many have health insurance, but their plans don't pay for extras like dental and vision care. "

The Knoxville clinic is RAM's 590th health care mission.

Doctors, including dentists, in the U.S. cannot practice medicine outside the states where they're licensed. But several out-of-state doctors volunteered here in Knoxville. Several years ago, the Tennessee legislature passed a law, at RAM's urging, that provides a temporary medical dispensation. Doctors traveling to the state to provide charity care are welcome to do so. Brock notes it's the only law of its kind in the United States. He thinks it should be replicated throughout the country. "Unfortunately it's not, so it makes it very difficult when we go to other states, to be able to come up with enough volunteers to meet the kind of need you see here."

Study: 1 in 5 kids don't see dentist each year - USATODAY.com

"'Americans will be spending $106 billion on dental care this year,' said Shelly Gehshan, director of the Pew Children's Dental Campaign. Much of that care pays for costly treatments such as fillings and root canals, which have their origins in poor childhood dental care, she said."

Celebrate National Children's Dental Health Month By Taking Care Of Tiny Teeth | Press Releases | Financial Articles & Investing News | TheStreet.com

"More than 40 percent of U.S. children will have tooth decay before the age of five"

Pew Report Finds Majority of States Fail to Ensure Proper Dental Health & Access to Care for Children - Yahoo! News

"An estimated one in five children in America go without dental care each year and two thirds of states do not have effective policies in place to ensure proper dental health and access to care, according to a report by the Pew Center on the States. The Cost of Delay: State Dental Policies Fail One in Five Children, released with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the DentaQuest Foundation, grades each state's policy responses to the urgent challenges in dental health among America's low-income children"

"'...there are still millions of children and families – especially those who are poor and live in communities of color – who can't gain access to the care that exists,' said Sterling K. Speirn, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. 'States need to explore creative workforce solutions, such as the dental therapist model, for addressing this glaring gap in our health care system, and improving access to quality oral health care for all children.'"

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Columbia University Medical Center Press Release

"'Oral health continues to be a major health issue in Harlem and in similar communities where historically, there has been little or no access to dental care,' said Dr. James King, assistant clinical professor in the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine and the Director of Dentistry at Harlem Hospital Center."

Harlem is in New York City which is fluoridated.

Supertooth Helps Prevent Tooth Decay - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

"Even with the benefit of fluoridation, tooth decay is the most common and second most costly disease affecting over 11 million Australians each year accounting for around half of the Dental Health Services budget which has doubled to over $6 billion since 2001,"

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

ADA.org: ADA News: A look at three dental school clinics for GKAS

In New York City which as been fluoridated since the 1960's: "'Dental caries continues to be the most chronic disorder in children, and we really see that in our work in the community,' said Dr. Moursi. 'Unfortunately, it's a problem that continues to grow, especially in children age 5 and younger, and those from families with significant financial obstacles.'"

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Fluoride Follies: FLUORIDE DATE LECTURE #22 - TEXAS DENTAL HEALTH: NOTHING TO BRAG ABOUT

According to a 2008 Oral Health Report from Texas which exceeds the national average in fluoridation of municipal water supplies:

� Poor oral health is widespread in Texas
� Texas scores worst in the nation in rate of untreated tooth decay among children.
� Half of Texas children eligible for dental services under Medicaid never access those
services."

Monday, February 15, 2010

State can't afford to improve dental service for poor, official says - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register

"The difficulties low-income Illinoisans encounter in obtaining dental care are no secret, a state official says.

But amid a recession and a multibillion-dollar state budget deficit, the tens of millions of dollars that would be needed to make a dent in the problem aren’t available, Illinois Medicaid director Theresa Eagleson said."

[However, if Chicago is anything like New York City, tens of millions of dollars are wasted every year putting ineffective fluoride chemicals into the public water supplies (manpower, equipment, chemicals, etc.)] in just that one city alone. The entire state of Illinois is required to add fluoride chemicals by a state law which needs to be repealed. The money saved can be used to actually treat Illinoisans rotted teeth.
"America is the richest nation in history, yet we now have the highest poverty rate in the industrialized world with an unprecedented amount of Americans living in dire straights and over 50 million citizens already living in poverty."

"...we have over 50 million people who need to use food stamps to eat, and a stunning 50 percent of U.S. children will use food stamps to eat at some point in their childhoods. Approximately 20,000 people are added to this total every day. In 2009, one out of five U.S. households didn't have enough money to buy food. In households with children, this number rose to 24 percent, as the hunger rate among U.S. citizens has now reached an all-time high.

We also currently have over 50 million U.S. citizens without health care."

[Over 130 million Americans don't have dental insurance. Those on Medicaid are counted as having dental insurance but 80% of dentists refuse to treat medicaid patients, as a result people in American have died in recent years from the consequences of untreated tooth decay.]

Sunday, February 14, 2010

In Springfield, Illinois where fluoridation is state-mandated: "One symptom of the problem is the number of people showing up at emergency rooms with dental pain. St. John’s Hospital served 1,975 such patients, or 3.3 percent of its total emergency department volume, in the most recent fiscal year, compared to 1,692 the previous year.

At Memorial, dental patients make up about 2 percent of all ER patients – 1,400 such patients in 2009, up from 906 in 2006.

“You know they’re in serious pain — it’s comparable to migraine-headache pain,” said Dr. Dennis Adams, who has spent years staffing Memorial Medical Center’s emergency department."

“'We’re sort of putting bubblegum in a dam,' said Adams, who has seen chipped teeth in the mouths of patients who have tried, and failed, to pull their own teeth. 'It’s pretty sad,' he said."

"The average dentist earns $186,000 a year in the Midwest, according to the state dental society."
"Private dentists often don’t want to be identified in the news media as accepting Medicaid for fear of being deluged with patients, according to the Illinois State Dental Society." Fluoridation is state-mandated in Illinois "In Springfield, 52 percent of second-graders in a program that provided them dental sealants, and 16.7 percent of seventh- and eighth-graders receiving free and reduced-priced lunches, had untreated tooth decay in 1999."

Friday, February 12, 2010

Children's Dental Health

After 65 years of water fluoridtion in the US: "The problems affecting children’s dental health are severe."

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Tooth brushing needs to be a day-care staple - The Boston Globe

Boston is fluoridated: "We see young children every day at Children’s Hospital Boston with pain and infection from untreated early childhood tooth decay. Children as young as 2 commonly present with eight or more cavities. Each year, we take more than 500 patients to the operating room to provide dental care under general anesthesia."

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

CBC News - Calgary - Kids tooth decay drains medical system: expert

Calgary's (Alberta, Canada) water is fluoridated: "A University of Calgary health care economist says treating tooth decay in children under the age of five is becoming a significant drain on the medical system.

The latest statistics show the most common procedure in the operating room at the Children's Hospital is the extraction of children's teeth under general anesthetic.

Herb Emery said 600 Calgary children under the age five require dental surgery each year."

Poor Shore children face limited dental care | delmarvanow.com | The Daily Times

Maryland is 94% fluoridated: "Despite great strides in the effort to improve dental access for Maryland's poorest children, few dentists accept Medicaid patients on the Lower Shore.

'There is a great need for these people to be seen. I'm only scratching the surface,' said Arvind Jain, owner of Delaware Maryland Dental of Salisbury."

"We are struggling to treat adults without insurance," Chandi said. "It is a nightmare. We have patients calling. They want, at least, pain medicine."

"Maryland focused on improving access for low-income children to dentists after the death of Deamonte Driver in 2007. The 12-year-old Prince George's County boy died after an untreated cavity caused a fatal brain infection. Driver would have been saved if dentists performed a routine $80 tooth extraction."

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Friday, February 05, 2010

NorwalkPlus.com News - February is “National Children’s Dental Health Month"

NorwalkPlus.com News - February is “National Children’s Dental Health Month":

In Connecticut, fluoridation is state-mandated: "A 2007 survey of Connecticut schoolchildren found that 31% of children in Head Start aged 2-4 have already experienced tooth decay and that 14% of those children had 5 or more teeth decayed or missing from decay. By Kindergarten, more than one in four children have experienced dental decay, 16% of which have untreated decay"

Month Focuses On Rising Tooth Decay In Youngsters

Month Focuses On Rising Tooth Decay In Youngsters:

After 65 years of water fluoridation in the U.S., "More American children than ever are starting school with tooth decay because they've never had a dental check-up."

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Sharing smiles: Community workers discuss ways to improve Chicago’s oral health

Sharing smiles: Community workers discuss ways to improve Chicago’s oral health:

"The average child at Erie Family Dental clinics has five to six cavities on their visits, according to Dr. Lee Francis, president and CEO of Erie Family Health Center, which hosted the seminar and has several locations in Chicago. And those who live in poverty, both children and adults, suffer more than twice the amount of tooth decay."

Chicago has been fluoridated for decades in Illinois where fluoridation is required by law by the state government.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

DentaQuest Foundation awards two grants to aid oral health in Maryland | IFAwebnews

DentaQuest Foundation awards two grants to aid oral health in Maryland:

Although Maryland is 94% fluoridated, "more than one-third of Maryland students in kindergarten and third grade had untreated decay in their primary teeth while more than 70% of children in the state’s Medicaid program, had never seen a dentist," according to a 2007 survey by the Maryland Family Health Administration,

North Carolina Dental Professionals Team Up To Treat Needy Children | SYS-CON INDIA

North Carolina Dental Professionals Team Up To Treat Needy Children: North Carolina is 88% fluoridated. "In 2009, 22,107 needy children in North Carolina received more than $2.05 million in free dental care as part of the 'Give Kids A Smile!' program."

Tulsa World: Free dental care offered

Tulsa World: Free dental care offered:

Despite a 73% fluoridation rate, "more than 72 percent of Oklahoma third-graders have tooth decay, more than any other reported state, according to the just-released Oklahoma Governor's Task Force on Children and Oral Health report."

Guest view: Putting the bite on bad teeth - Utica, NY - The Observer-Dispatch

Putting the bite on bad teeth: "Hundreds of children face this painful reality [extensive tooth decay]across the Mohawk Valley. Since 1996, I’ve been treating 200 to 300 Head Start children each year who had never seen a dentist before."

The Mohawk Water Authority fluoridates it's water and includes Utica. It's also mandatory that Head Start children get their teeth brushed daily.

GUEST COMMENTARY: Dental therapists solution for rural oral health - Columbia Missourian

Dental therapists solution for rural oral health:

[80% fluoridated] "Missouri’s oral health is among the worst in the nation."