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ADA launches ‘Action’ campaign to address oral health crisis

“There’s still a dangerous divide in America between those with good dental health and those without,” said ADA President Dr. Robert A. Faiella. Our mission is to close that divide. Good oral health isn’t a luxury. It’s essential.” (DTI/Photo ADA)
Dental Tribune USA

Dental Tribune USA

Wed. 15 May 2013

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WASHINGTON, D.C., USA: The American Dental Association (ADA), the nation’s leading organization of dentists, today announced a nationwide campaign aimed at boldly addressing the dental health crisis in the United States. The campaign — called “Action for Dental Health: Dentists Making a Difference” — aims to reduce the numbers of adults and children with untreated dental disease through oral health education, prevention and providing treatment now to people in need of care.

The need is clear, according to new Harris Interactive data released today by the ADA. The study confirmed a disturbing dental divide in America:

  • Nearly half of lower-income adults say they haven’t seen a dentist in a year or longer, while the vast majority of middle- and higher-income wage earners (70 percent) have.
  • Lower-income adults 18 and older are more than two times as likely as middle- and higher-income adults to have had all of their teeth removed (7 percent vs. 3 percent).
  • Nearly one in five (18 percent) lower-income adults have reported that they or a household member has sought treatment for dental pain in an emergency room at some point in their lives, compared to only seven percent of middle- and higher-income adults.
  • Only six percent of those low-income adults who went to the ER reported that the problem was solved.
  • Even though the Affordable Care Act offers little relief for adult Americans who lack dental coverage, 40 percent of lower-income adults believe that health care reform will help them obtain dental care.

The survey’s findings echo prior research from multiple sources. According to a new ADA Health Policy Resources Center analysis of 2010 MEPS and U.S. Census data, 181 million Americans did not visit the dentist in 2010. Nearly half of adults over age 30 suffer from some form of gum disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and nearly one in four children under the age of five already have cavities.

Complex problem calls for a coordinated national action

Surgeon General David Satcher’s landmark 2000 report, “Oral Health in America,” identified a “silent epidemic” of untreated oral disease among some populations groups. A subsequent “National Call to Action” articulated an ambitious agenda for ending these disparities.

“We’ve made great progress, with each generation enjoying better dental health than the one before,” said ADA President Robert A. Faiella, DMD, MMSc. “But there’s still a dangerous divide in America between those with good dental health and those without. Our mission is to close that divide. Good oral health isn’t a luxury. It’s essential.”

The causes of the dental health crisis are varied and complex. However, dentists in America believe it can be solved, that it’s never too late to take on this challenge, both as individuals and as a nation. Action for Dental Health is national and coordinated in its scope and approach, and is designed to address the dental health crisis in three distinct areas:

Provide care now to people suffering with untreated disease

  • Reduce by 35 percent by 2020 the number of people who visit the emergency room for dental conditions, by referring them to community health centers, private dental practices or other settings, where they can receive proper dental care.
  • Implement in at least 10 states by 2015 a long-term care program to improve the oral health of nursing home residents.
  • Expand the ADA Give Kids A Smile local community programs to provide education, screening and treatment to underserved children in order to achieve the vision statement of Give Kids a Smile: the elimination of cavities in children under five by 2020.

Strengthen and expand the public/private safety net to provide more care to more Americans

  • Help provide more care to people by having private-practice dentists contract with Federally Qualified Health Centers, therefore increasing the number patients receiving oral health services 175 percent by 2020.
  • Fight for increased dental health protections and simplified administration under Medicaid by increasing by 10 percent the number of states that have streamlined their credentialing process to less than one month.

Bring dental health education and disease prevention into communities

  • Ensure that 80 percent of Americans on public water systems have access to optimally fluoridated drinking water by 2020.
  • Increase from seven to 15 the number of states where Community Dental Health Coordinators (CDHCs) are active by 2015. CDHCs provide dental education and prevention services to the community and help people navigate the dental health system.

“We need to remember that every infant is born cavity-free,” Faiella said. “The key for both kids and adults to maintain their dental health is effective prevention. That’s why we’re increasing our awareness efforts in schools and underserved communities. By working to ensure all Americans understand the connection between their dental and overall health, we can begin to solve this crisis.”

(Source: ADA)

 

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