LDN - Top Stories

LDN - Top Stories: In Illinois, where water fluoridation is state mandated, "Oral health care was identified as a top priority need in Logan County in a five-year assessment conducted by the Logan County Department of Public Health in 2005."

Dr. Joseph Mercola: The Health Hazards of Water Fluoridation (VIDEO)

Dr. Joseph Mercola: The Health Hazards of Water Fluoridation (VIDEO):

"There is practically no difference in tooth decay between fluoridated and non-fluoridated countries, and no difference between states that have a high or low percentage of their water fluoridated."

NEWS: Waterloo votes to remove fluoride from its drinking water

NEWS: Waterloo votes to remove fluoride from its drinking water:

CANADA: "On April 16, Martin Mittelstaedt of the Globe and Mail reported that, “When it comes to fluoridating drinking water, Ontario and Quebec couldn’t be further apart. Ontario has the country’s highest rate of adding the tooth-enamel-strengthening chemical into municipal supplies, while Quebec has one of the lowest, with practically no one drinking fluoridated water.”"

In U.S., Health Disparities Across Incomes Are Wide-Ranging

In U.S., Health Disparities Across Incomes Are Wide-Ranging:

"One-third of low-income Americans are uninsured, and more than that say there have been times in the past 12 months when they didn't have enough money for healthcare. About 7 in 10 have a personal doctor, and less than half (44.3%) say they have visited a dentist in the past 12 months. By comparison, more than 8 in 10 high-income Americans have a personal doctor and have visited a dentist."

Hundreds get free dental care in Albuquerque | KOB.com

Hundreds get free dental care in Albuquerque | KOB.com: New Mexico is 77% fluoridated: "Dental work might be something regarded as a nuisance to some, but it was a treat for almost 1,000 New Mexicans as they finally got to see the dentist—for many of them it was the first time in years...Dentists say the sheer number of folks who showed up for Friday's clinic should send a clear message to the legislature about how unaffordable dentistry really is."
[Looks like New Mexico needs to hire cheaper costing but highly effective Dental Therapists]

RAM clinic exposes the plight of America's working uninsured | TriCities.com

RAM clinic exposes the plight of America's working uninsured | TriCities.com:

"RAM organizers estimate that half of the 600 people triaged for dental and health care Saturday are among the working uninsured, or those lacking dental insurance even though they have health coverage.

“With the cost of dentistry being so high, it is becoming difficult to obtain care,” said Carmel Valley, Calif., oral surgeon Lawrence Wallace. “We are seeing the working poor.”

"The high costs explain why half the patients in line have a job but probably lack any form of dental insurance, Watson said."

salina.com - an online service of the Salina Journal

Salina, Kansas is fluoridated: "Tracie Linzenmeyer was stuck with a mouthful of rotten teeth because she couldn't afford to have them pulled.

Medicaid would pay for the stay-at-home Salina mom to get her teeth cleaned, but because of the cost, it wouldn't pay for such dental services as root canals, crowns, deep-cleaning or tooth removal -- all of which Linzenmeyer needed.

'My teeth have gotten so bad that they have to be pulled, but I can't get them pulled because I can't afford it,' she said during a recent visit to get her teeth deep cleaned at the Salina Family Healthcare Center dental clinic."

salina.com - an online service of the Salina Journal:

Florida has poor record with providing dental care to underprivileged | Ocala.com

Florida is 77% fluoridated: "Gaps in Florida's pediatric dental care
Findings show Florida has one of the worst records in the U.S. for children's dental care."

Florida has poor record with providing dental care to underprivileged | Ocala.com:

Florida Public Health Institute > Oral Health Articles and Press Releases

Florida Public Health Institute > Oral Health Articles and Press Releases: "CDHP Final Report"

Most of Palm Beach County in Florida is fluoridated. "Applying national pediatric dental epidemiologic rates to the County, it is estimated that at least 20-25,000 County children under age six have experienced tooth decay and that at least 15,000-18,000 have untreated disease. The majority of these children are minority and living in poor or near poor families and are eligible for one of Florida’s various Medicaid and CHIP programs, all of which offer robust dental coverage.

These PBC children remain overwhelmingly underserved as CDHP’s investigations confirmed. In calls to 323 of the County’s 337 general, pediatric, and orthodontic practices seeking a dental appointment for a child in Medicaid, only 7 of 285 general dentists (2%), 5 of 19 pediatric dentists (26%), and 4 of 33 orthodontists (12%) accept a new Medicaid-insured child as a patient. Children in CHIP are slightly better served as 16 additional dentists participate in CHIP but not Medicaid (7 general dentists, 3 pediatric dentists, 6 orthodontists). Overall, only one-in-13 primary care dental practices in PBC accept children with public insurance coverage. Almost all of these few providers accept children in Medicaid who also have special healthcare needs. Even if every general and pediatric dentist in the County were to participate equally in Medicaid and CHIP, each would need to serve approximately 200 more school aged children."

OCR Article

After 65 years of water fluoridation in the US, "Oral disease, including dental caries, is the most common pediatric disease and a significant cause of morbidity in adulthood.1 As much as half of American children have caries. Reducing caries prevalence among children was one of the objectives defined in the Healthy People 2010 initiative.3 However, this objective is far from being achieved;1 recent epidemiological data suggest that caries prevalence is increasing in the US.2 Several reports of child deaths due to complications of oral disease were recorded in the last decade.2 Further, tooth decay has been identified as a silent epidemic."


OCR Article