Dental News - MouthMobile takes dentistry to underserved

Dental Tribune USA

Thu. 8 May 2014

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NEW YORK, N.Y. USA: Living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it would be easy to assume that access to dental care isn’t a problem in the United States. But sadly, this is not the case. The statistics are sobering. Last year, 100 million Americans didn’t visit a dentist.

More than 47 million people live in places where it is difficult to access dental care, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that there is a shortage of nearly 4,600 dental health professionals in the United States.

Yet while the health care debate rages on, the issue of oral health is largely absent from the discussion.

For many, dental care is a luxury, not a priority. When times get tough, it is not surprising that people put off visits to the dentist. For far too many Americans, dentistry is a luxury, and not a priority. Patients who struggle financially put off dental care and live with infection and pain — and that has an impact on their overall health and quality of life.

When an emergency strikes, people turn to our nation’s hospitals. In April, a new analysis from Rutgers University found that the use of emergency departments for dental care — especially by young adults in low-income communities — poses a substantial challenge for our nation. One of the organizations that is responding to the oral health crisis is Aspen Dental.

Aspen Dental is on a mission to give America a healthy mouth and has started The Healthy Mouth Movement, a community giving initiative designed to deliver free dental care to thousands of people in need in communities across the United States.

Through the Healthy Mouth Movement, Aspen dentists and team members across 27 states will devote a day to providing dental care to those who need it most — free of charge, no questions asked. And the newly constructed Aspen Dental MouthMobile, a fully equipped dental office on wheels, is going directly into communities to not only provide free service, but raise awareness of the importance of oral health.

During the past several months, The Healthy Mouth Movement has been traveling around the country, teaming up with Oral Health America and local partners along the way.

Dentistry is a generous profession. There are myriad ways to give back, whether through individual volunteer efforts or through great organizations such as Missions of Mercy and the American Dental Association’s Give Kids a Smile program. And by working together, we can make a difference — one patient at a time.

(Source: Aspen Dental)

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