Challenges Facing the American Dental System – Are They Solvable?

Oral health has long been the subject of debate. Many believe, and studies have proven, that effective oral care is essential to overall general health and well-being. Unfortunately, there are currently millions of Americans who simply do not have access to affordable dental health services.

Understanding why these citizens cannot receive the dental care that they need is important in solving the current problems with the dental system in the United States and providing critical dental care to those in need.

Oral health problems can be an early sign of another, more serious disease. Left untreated, oral health conditions can become more serious and cause tooth loss as well as other life-threatening illnesses. Regular dental care can help to prevent and effectively treat many problems with oral health but there are a number of Americans who have financial barriers that restrict them from having access to this dental care.

Low income families are typically the most severely affected by problems with the dental system in America. Private health insurance plans also typically exclude dental coverage and those plans that do offer to cover dental costs require very high levels of cost-sharing that can put this coverage completely out of reach for mid to low income families.

While Medicaid, a government funded healthcare choice for low income families, does cover some dental costs, it typically only covers costs for children so adults are left completely without the dental coverage that they need.

Surveys have shown that many low income adults, even those with minimal dental coverage are simply not receiving the level of dental care that they need to promote overall well-being. Much of those classified as low income in the United States have absolutely no dental coverage whatsoever which means that they are very unlikely to receive the degree of dental care that is necessary for them to enjoy good general health.

More than half of low income adults do not have enough dental coverage for even the most routine dental procedures. 59 percent of low income adults do not have any dental insurance and 38 percent have absolutely no insurance coverage at all.

There are a few government assistance programs that have been implemented to directly deal with the unmet needs of these low income individuals, although even those middle class Americans without adequate dental coverage suffer the consequences of the shape of the dental care system in the United States.

Many advocates have argued that all American citizens should be able to get the dental care that they need when they need it, although no one has yet come up with a plan that will provide this coverage for all American citizens.

The demand for effective dental care as well as an adequate dental work force that can handle this demand is critical in providing all Americans with the preventative care that they need to ensure against a variety of illnesses and diseases. Many studies have shown that education is a critical factor in fixing the problem with the dental care system in the United States.

Properly educating parents and children about good oral health will lead to less of a critical need for visits to the dentist. If all adults and children were aware of good oral hygiene and followed these practices, cavities, decay and other neglected oral care conditions would quickly become less of a concern.

Many programs are available today that are aimed at teaching low income families more about good oral hygiene and ways to decrease their overall need of emergency dental care, although a plan should be put into place that will provide dental care for these individuals when the need does arise.

In order to effectively address the concerns of adequate dental care in the United States there are three factors that will need to be considered. These include the effective demand for adequate dental care for all citizens, including those of low income levels as well as a dental work force that has enough professionals to effectively handle the mass of people who need adequate dental care.

Finally, an economic environment that will provide patients as well as dentists with incentives for participating will help to bring the oral health crisis in the United States to a screeching halt.