A lot of the evacuees have missing teeth

[shraby]

or no teeth at all. How many people have noticed this? It's not only health care these people are doing without, dental care is seriously lacking.

[Said1]

1. People who are poor

geneally can not afford to go to the dentist....or maybe the media is doing this on purpose??

[shraby]

5. I don't think the media is doing it on purpose,

I think it's just a fact because the poor cannot afford dental care. If a large majority of the evacuees are missing teeth, it would be hard to not show them when filming.

[LisaL]

51. Doing what on purpose?

Looking for people without teeth? LOL.

[malaise]

2. I did notice

I bet Fidel noticed too because all of his people have healthy teeth but none drive SUVs.

[TerdlowSmedley]

3. I lived in New Orleans is the 70s.

And after having grown up in the South and seeing plenty of sharecropper shacks in the Mississippi Delta, I saw poverty the likes of which I had never seen til I lived in New Orleans. This is the ugly poverty that America likes to believe doesn't exist in this country. It's finally laid bare for all to see and there are still those who, instead of being ashamed, laugh and point and let their racism shine through. I'm ashamed. And I'm scared of what this country is coming to.

[TexanDem]

32. indeed - we can only hope this will be a wake up call.

[kestrel91316]

50. The ugly legacy of slavery lives on....................

[astonamous]

4. As a health care professional

I can tell you that dental care is the last thing to be approved for by medicaid programs and the first thing to be cut when the budget is cut. Also, Medicare doesn't cover any dental unless someone goes into an emergency room in pain. Eye care, Dental and Hearing is all considered elective health care...sad.

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. Which is horrific. Poor dental care can lead to major health issues

[fishnfla]

42. Eye care is well covered by medicaid

its not elective at all

[LisaL]

52. Dental too. At least it was on I was on medicaid.

[Bluerthanblue]

59. only for children, and only if you can find a dentist willing

to take on any new medicaid patients.
I haven't been able to get any dental work done for the last 5 yrs.- My children were dropped by our dentist when our coverage became 'Medicaid'- and no dentists within 180 miles were accepting any new medicaid kids-

My oldest got a job that has dental- he's finally had a chance to get all his teeth fixed, except for some impacted wisdom teeth that will require surgery.
We HAVE been able to get cleanings on occasion from the local Tech. College- free for my youngest, and small cost for me, but they've been innundated lately.

[ultraist]

63. Adults without children usually don't qualify for medicaid

Unless they have a very serious condition (such as breast or cervical cancer), pregnancy or are disabled for at least six months.

Consequently, most poor adults do NOT have dental care or health care. 45 MILLION Americans are without health care.

[Bluerthanblue]

68. even if you meet the qualifications you

specified, which I did, as well as having children, I was not eligible for any dental care, with the exception of extraction due to abcesses- had one of those. No restoritive care, and hard to find dentists who could afford the Medicaid re-embursement.
Many folks in my area grew up without floridated water- (some wells have a natural supply, ours isn't one of them) and that can have a real effect. I'm an obsessive 'tooth brusher'- and flosser, so it wasn't lack of care.
My MD.'s tell me I'm among the 47 million who have no health care-
And never will, because of pre-existing conditions.

[astonamous]

84. Tell that to my patients who can't see.

I work in Ophthalmology and when medicaid is cut, they usually cut thing out like glasses and routine exams. For kids it is especially bad because they sometimes have changes in their vision more rapidly than adults. Patients with glaucoma and diabetic problems that need to be seen more than every two years. We often have to just write it off so that they will come back for their check-ups.

I think the most sad thing is that there are so many people that are working and don't have any health care insurance. They don't qualify for medicaid and can't afford the cost of insuring themselves.

[lildreamer316]

85. Like your avatar!

They're now my 2nd fave team (sorry; Panthers have home field advantage).
You hit the nail on the head about the worst case ppl. Those that are working & making JUST ENOUGH to not qualify for medicaid.I have a single mother friend who has that problem; she was making .25 cents too much to qualify. After I had my baby and got my inheritance I would give her my WIC food. I did drop medicaid after the 1st renewal period because I didn't need it anymore.

[astonamous]

86. We see it all the time in our clinic

Just the other day, I had a 28 year old come in with visual problems and no insurance. He was a full time employee of company that provides security on a military base. With the symptoms he was having, we were pretty sure that the diagnosis was Multiple Sclerosis, but to be sure, there has to be other tests. No way he could afford all that and if he is diagnosed before getting insurance, then he would have "pre-existing condition" that would either prevent him from being insured or increase the premium out of his reach. He was married and his wife was pregnant with their first kid.

It just breaks your heart.

[sandnsea]

87. Not any more, dental either

Not for adults, unless they are disabled AND at the poverty line. Kids have to jump through alot more hoops than they used to as well.

[nvliberal]

81. Not only that,

but employer plans are crap. They are only useful for preventive care, but forget major dental surgery or periodontics.

Employer dental plans should be at least $10,000 annually, not this piddling $1,000 or $2,000 annual crap.

I have major dental work I need to have done, but I cannot afford it, even if I had dental insurance.

[flamingyouth]

6. There is a shameful lack of dental care for the poor in this country

I volunteer for a foundation that awarded a large grant to NW Medical Teams last year for a mobile dental van that serves low-income people in Washington state. It's like a return to the early 20th century, when people just let their teeth fall out. :(

[SmokingJacket]

7. How about totally non-existent dental care?

When I lived in the NO region I knew people without cars, telephones, clocks, or doors on their houses. Dental care was not even on the radar.

I moved there from rural Ohio -- not exactly Palm Springs -- but the poverty I witnessed was like nothing I had imagined still existed in the USA.

Seems like a lot of people are learning a few things post-Katrina.

[Tomee450]

8. I noticed that too

and it's not only African Americans but the poor whites too. I also noticed that many of the evacuees of all races seemed to be very poorly educated. I think the south has never invested much money into education. It wasn't just Louisiana residents that needed dental work and education but many of the residents of Alabama and Mississippi also. It was sad to see so many people with missing teeth. I am sure this is a result of poverty;people who are poor cannot afford to see a dentist.

[Occulus]

22. Not only the poor; also the *uninsured*

and they get directly punished for it. Case in point: my wisdom teeth.

I work for the USPS. We have a great health plan. We used to have a great dental plan, but that was ended by our union dumping it- it was the union's plan, not one from USPS- because it was starting to "cost too much". The plan they have now I would have to pay for AND NOT USE for *six months* before I was covered for even the smallest items, and some are unavailable under that plan for something like a year.

In any other business, I would call that a scam.

Then there's the oral surgeon (my two bottom teeth are impacted). $1100-$1800 for all four teeth to be pulled. I hate to guess how much the anesthetic will cost (and anesthesiologists are another group with whom I have a major issue with prices, by the way), and they want it ALL UP FRONT AT THE TIME OF TREATMENT. No payment plan of any kind is possible. On top of it all, because I have no dental insurance, they slotted me in on OCTOBER 25th- when my insured friend, the one who lives two floors up from me, got into the exact same office in FOUR DAYS.

I'd like to go on the record with being disgusted with the behavior of dental care "professionals". I'm being treated like absolute shit by all parties involved because I can't afford the crappy-ass "plan" that IS provided, I'm being treated like shit because even though I have a great job financially speaking I can't afford *proper* dental care, I know I'll get lectured about the condition of my teeth when I do get in to see someone, and on top of everything I have to break the bank to get something done that needs to be done, and they know it and are BLATANTLY taking advantage of the situation.

This is NOT new behavior; this has been going on for a VERY long time. From an industry so lucrative that the people working in it don't even have to work a 40-hour week (many, if not most, are closed Fridays), even when there's so MANY people out there who need the care... it's shameful. Simply shameful.

I think the dental industry- across the board- is in need of some serious price regulation. There are simply too many in desperate need of adequate care for dentists and oral surgeons to be as exclusionary as they are. If the medical industry doesn't want to include dental "because it's not medical" (that's the reason I'm always given), the dental industry should not be allowed to charge prices as if it were medical.

Some might say, if I know it's so important, I should be willing to allow them to charge others according to a scale giving consideration to it's importance; in other words, they should be able to charge a whole lot for their services, because their services are so vital to good health. I would say, if they, the dentists and orl surgeons know their services are so very vital, they should be willing to lower their prices so the most people possible can get good dental care.

My final observation: money is more important to dentists and oral surgeons, as a group, than is widespread adequate dental care. It is a severe ethical breach that has been present in the dental care industry for a very long time, and if I, making about 50K a year base pay, cannot afford it, none of the uninsured people below me on the economic scale can either.

Shameful. Simply shameful. I think we need to consider forcing the dental care industry to do better.

[ismnotwasm]

43. Hey, you're not alone

I worked for a long time with a company that had "ok" benefits (nonunion) Where we could afford dental care for our kids--barely. I now have a much better job, with better dental insurance, but my husband and I are taking turns. He has been disabled for years with MS, and of course SSDI has NO provision for dental care. He needed a lot of work done. (His teeth look so much better now) but we're still paying it off. My teeth are in much better shape, but I'm sure I'll get that same lecture.

[Vickers]

9. That lady with 4 kids in Iraq, who George used to show military

moms support him :eyes:, was missing several teeth.

I found it ironic that someone whose family has given so much can not afford dental care.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

10. Dental care is a luxury unavailable to the poor

The nightmare is that poor dental health is a gateway to all sorts of other health problems.

We are so fucked up in our priorities here in the United States. In my life, I really expected things to get better. Instead, they've gotten worse.

[KansDem]

16. Your sentence hits close to home...

In my life, I really expected things to get better. Instead, they've gotten worse.

I'm in my 50s. When I was 5 and saw 5-year-olds mistreat other 5-year-olds, I thought "things will be better when we are 12. When I was 12 and saw 12-year-olds mistreat other 12-year-olds, I thought "When we get to be 18, we would have grown more mature, and things will be better." When I turned 18 and saw the same things, I thought "Give us a few more years and the wisdom and experience of life will guide us to treat each other better. Well, it's been several decades now, and we are not treating each other any better. As a child, we have reasons for such indifference to the needs of others: children tend to be selfish. There's no excuse for it now.

I really don't expect things to "get better" now. It's just a matter of trying to instill some of the optimism in my children that I once had. Perhaps things really will be better in the future; in their lifetime. But not now...

[Media_Lies_Daily]

19. It's not just dental care that has become unaffordable....health care....

...and vision care have also become unaffordable for at least 50 million Americans nationwide.

As to your second sentence, I remember the days when coeporations picked up the total coast of healthcare for their employees and dependents. Today, you're lucky if you can find a company that pays even a small percentage of the monthly premium.

[LibDemAlways]

55. One day I was sitting in the dentist's

waiting room when the scheduler fielded a call from someone who was in pain. After checking his records, she advised him, "I'm sorry you're in pain, but the dentist won't see you until you pay the $350.00 you owe. No, we can't take partial payment."

I realize dentists are running businesses, but my God, where's the compassion?

[Ksec]

26. Yea, but the rich got tax cuts.....

That makes it all better. ;(

[Horse with no Name]

11. Sad thing is

Poor dentition contributes largely to overall health.
People die from abscessed teeth.
One day, someone will realize that the key to the success of this country is to keep people healthy.
I doubt it will be in my lifetime though.

[teknomanzer]

23. A very huge problem in our country...

is that not enough focus is on preventative care... of which dental care is a great part of. The tendency is to focus on treating chronic disease and leave prevention as part of a lecture far too late. The upshot is greater medical costs overall, which may work for pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and those who specialize in research and treatment of chronic disease, but it makes health care too costly and inaccessible for citizens in need.

[kwassa]

12. 60% of the evacuees have family incomes of less than $20,000

and have no bank accounts and no credit cards, according to a poll in the Washington Post.

[spinbaby]

13. Many are poor, but not all

I know a woman (whom I've still not located) who lived in N.O. in an area that was heavily flooded. She was most definitely not poor and neither were her neighbors. I think that, in addition to simple lack of dental care, there were probably many who just evacuated so quickly that they left their dentures behind. Many seem to have forgotten their shoes, why not dentures?

[Cleita]

36. I don't think they forgot their shoes as much as the shoes got

so wet they were unwearable. The dentures maybe are unwearable too because of the unavailability of things you need to maintain them and wear them.

[Sgent]

15. Medicaid

in LA is a joke of enormous proportions. For most purposes, it might as well not exist.

The school system there is not much better. Anyone with any money at all either moves, or puts their kids in the Catholic School system which educates 1/3 of all NOLA children. Depending on grade, tuition is 1500-3500 (or was a couple of years ago).

[juajen]

54. Well, excuse me, but this is a generalization

I admit that public education is better in Lafayette than other areas of LA, but the medicaid is the same all over the state, and I know someone who is on it; all of his bills are taken care of and his prescriptions are $4 apiece.

This is much better than medicare; so, LA medicaid might not be as good as other states, but it is better than my husband's medicare. He gets too much disability to qualify for medicare prescription assistance, which is a laugh. Finally, lately, some of the drug companies have been scared into providing more assistance with prescriptions, so that is now better.

I have three gifted children, all educated in the public schools here in Lafayette. They received scholarship offers for many schools all over the country. Also, UL here in Lafayette is good enough that my child who attends there has also received several offers from very good schools. I am not sure about public education in NO, as I have had no personal experience; but, public education is good in Lafayette, Louisiana.

So, I would appreciate it if sweeping statements were kept to a minimum here. My daughter who lives in NO, or did before this storm, does say that public education is sorry in NO. I hope they can fix that. It would go a long way toward helping the level of poverty in NO.

[Sgent]

56. Try to see a doctor in NOLA

Because they don't accept Medicaid.

Other than the state charity hospitals (whose physicians won't see medicaid on oupatient), you are limited to the health department. Basically no private physician accepts Medicaid in NOLA.

As for that wonderful drug coverage, have you ever tried using it? Because the LA Medicaid program covers 5 scripts a month, which is fine if you are not sick.

Finally, the Medicare program is a completely separate issue (although very similar in many cases). The fact they didn't create a drug program for it when it was created is the issue -- and the program starting Jan 1 will help, although not enough and not that much for those moderately sick but not "truley" so.

Try finding a nursing home in NOLA. The state of LA has the fewest medicaid nursing home beds (per capita) of any state in the country.

[ultraist]

66. Only very low income parents with children under 19, disabled...

adults, women with breast or cervical cancer and pregnant women, qualify for Medicaid in LA.

This means that very low income adults without children, do not qualify.

http://www.dhh.state.la.us/offices/page.asp?id=92&detail=4128

[expatriate]

69. I'm curious

How did the person you know get on Medicaid? Does he have dependent children and no income, or a very serious medical condition (cancer, HIV, HepC) and no other coverage?

Those are about the only ways to get on Medicaid, particularly in Louisiana. It took ages for someone I know, who suffers from HIV, insulin dependent diabetes and HepC, to get coverage, even though he qualified for disability and is physically unable to work.

I grew up in Louisiana. There is a world of difference between Lafayette and New Orleans. The New Orleans public school system, in Orleans Parish (I'm not including Jefferson Parish, which has somewhat better schools) is abysmal. My son attended those schools, and I know many people who have taught in them. The funding is pathetic, and the problems of dealing with thousands of children of people who are incredibly poor, are legion. Also, the quality of the public schools varies by school district. The schools that service the poorest areas of New Orleans are simply awful.

[phusion]

17. Not to mention...

The mass consumption of those huge fountain sodas that run like 80 cents. Cheap calories.

That shit wreaks havoc on your teeth...

[KharmaTrain]

18. What Dental Care? Who Covered It?

I consider myself a victim of having to forgo dental care for years since the various group plans I was on wouldn't cover it. Over years, I developed problems...but couldn't afford the $200 then $1,000 to keep my problems from spreading. Kids needed clothes, mortgage had to be paid...I could deal with the pain.

Many of my friends now suffer from some form of dental problems. Be it poor eating habits or lack of proper dental care...in almost all of our cases, the biggest reason none of us did more than brush and floss and hope for the best was we couldn't afford the extra expense...until it became a serious problem.

Welcome to the REAL America. It's not the "little city on the hill", but a place where a majority of people fend from paycheck to paycheck and have to constantly make choices against their health or welfare.

It also represents a nation where health care is based on income and privilidge.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

31. Me too.

word for word.

:hug:

[Jeanette in FL]

34. Me three

Exact same story. Finally took out a loan to have all the work done at the same time. When you can't afford to take care of the little problems ($600-$1500 min.)it just escalates from there. It is very sad. We had dental insurance at the time but they would only pay for part of the root canal, but not the crown, said that was cosmetic. But if you don't have the crown put on, the root canal usually fails, so you are back in the same boat. It is a very sad situation for many many Americans.

[nonconformist]

45. Yep. I could have written your post.

I haven't had dental coverage in, I guess, 5 years.

I'm in serious trouble and I really NEED to go to the dentist. The scary thing for me is that I can't just go and get something fixed... it's going to be a long, long process. I can't even imagine how much it will cost and frankly, I've come to a point where I need several things done quickly. I've always been more concerned with my kids, with the house, with everything but my own dental health. It's just something that gets away from you, and by the time you start really feeling and seeing the effects of the neglect, time is not on your side.

I found an individual plan that while expensive, will save me money in the long run. I'm signing up next week.

[nvliberal]

82. Employer plans are miserly and virtually worthless

because people would use them if they were halfway good.

Does anybody think the typical $1,000 to $2,000 a year dental plans are any good?

[leftofthedial]

20. poor dental care is the hallmark of poverty

and a huge stigma for the poor.

[barb162]

21. I noticed lack of dental work, definitely...very crooked teeth,

some missing teeth, yeah

[catmandu57]

24. It's not just the south

but nationwide. It's a very sad fact that poverty doesn't think very much of dental health. I know firsthand what being poor does to ones teeth.
I brushed my teeth religiously, several times a day, one day I was in a car accident and knocked one of the front ones loose, I went to the free health clinic to see if they could do anything. They said sure, whipped out a tool and yanked it out, says I when are you going to put a new one in, when they got through laughing they told me no they don't cover that. So, I was fucked, and then the dental problems escalated, I lost several more teeth after that. When I graduated and started job hunting, I showed up for interviews with a big gap in my face from missing teeth, that and smelling like an ashtray, made sure I didn't get any callbacks.
Fortunately, when i was approved for medicaid I was covered for dental, got them all yanked and now wear dentures, they won't cover that now.
Being poor is a bitch, bad teeth are a part of it.

[expatriate]

71. Yes, it is nationwide

Some of the most terrible mouths I've ever seen were in the Northeast, where poor people had no choice but to let their teeth rot until they hurt so much that they then yanked them out with pliers. In fact, those that did so often bragged about it, and how they didn't "waste" money on going to "no dentist". It had almost become a march of machismo in parts of rural Pennsylvania to rip out your own painful teeth with the same pliers Grandaddy used on his teeth back when.

And many poor people, when faced with paying for a filling, root canal, or other expensive work, will just tell the dentist to pull the tooth out. This then erodes the structure of the mouth, the teeth shift towards the empty space, become weakened and eventually are at risk for falling out.

I knew many poor people who did resort to having all their teeth removed and getting dentures - some at incredibly young ages. Some as young as sixteen.

Heartbreaking.

[donco6]

25. Most have NEVER been to a dentist.

I know that from experience. The suffering they go through is horrible.

[AnnInLa]

27. Yes, I worked with a little old lady at the Cajun Dome

who had evacuated in such a rush that she couldn't get her dentures. And, she hadn't eaten many of the meals the Red Cross was handing out because she couldn't chew. It was so sad. We made a list of all of the dentists in the phone book who took the medical card and made dentures for her to call the next day (it was Labor Day.) And, then we located transportation for her when she made her appointment. I'll tell you, sometimes we think we are poor, or that we have problems...until we see people just trying to basically survive each day.

[seabeyond]

28. middle class arent going to be able to fix teeth soon. i am seeing

a toothless society myself. getting too hard, and too expensive. it is hard to find any insurance at all that covers cost, and man, dentist is high

[KT2000]

29. Dentists are cash only

pay up front or maybe they will let you spread it over a few months. If someone is debating the choice of an extraction or root canal with crown - that is a couple thousand where I live.

[Erika]

30. The media is showing our citizens the scope of our poverty

Many of the "haves" would not subject themselves to the areas where the "have nots" reside and are seeing the true picture for the first time.

[TexanDem]

33. Poorly fit dentures need adhesives - maybe some were broken or lost.

[Cleita]

35. If we ever get universal health care here, dental care should be a part of

it. It's very important, yet most health care plans ignore it. I know in most European countries with NHC it is included.

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. Dental care goes away long before health care does

The majority of kindergarteners in my elementary school have never been to the dentist.

[Sapphire Blue]

38. Gee, ya think???

[expatriate]

39. During my twenty-odd years living under the poverty line,

much of it in Louisiana, dental care was just a misty dream. I thought I was lucky to have "good teeth", because it looked like I never had cavities. There were sure no dark spots on my teeth, none fell out. I was very careful to floss and brush regularly.

However, I had chronic headaches, particularly on the left side.

Finally, a tooth broke, I (now in another country and with dental insurance) went to a dentist. X-rays done.

Every single tooth in my head was pretty much rotten. Abcesses in every single tooth on my upper left jaw, and major decay in all other teeth. Seems that my "good teeth" tended to start to decay high near the gumline, BETWEEN the teeth. You could almost say they were decaying from the inside out, because the decay would enter the tooth where I couldn't see it, and then proceeded to nicely hollow them out. There was never any bad breath or any other indication other than a slight darkening of my back molars which I can't exactly see in the mirror.

I opted to try to save my teeth, to the tune of thirteen complete root canals and caps. Lots of other porcelain in there as well on the teeth that weren't completely abcessed and decayed.

Total bill to date? Over $15,000. Thankfully, dental insurance covers about half. Thankfully, I did not have to opt for dentures, but I was very close to it.

For the first time in my life since I was about fourteen, I am free of continual facial and cranial pain. The systemic infection that I have apparently had for decades is finally wiped out, but I have had permanent damage to my immune system and heart as a result. Tooth decay that severe affects the entire body.

New Orleans is where I spent a lot of my life. Those people have absolutely no way to get dental care. Most of them can't even get a checking account because they can't pass the credit check most New Orleans banks run. They cash any checks they get at these places where checks are cashed for a fee and "paycheck" loans are given week to week, for those who have expenses beyond their paychecks - one step up from loan sharks.

It's so very easy to fall into poverty in America now. I wasn't raised in poverty, but found myself simply unable to stay above the line, no matter how many jobs I worked or how much frugality I practiced. And when you're literally living hand to mouth, as many of the people in New Orleans are, dental care is something unheard of. Many of those people will simply pull a tooth out with pliers if it starts to hurt them too much.

[pitohui]

41. yes i hate to say it but dental care not really a big priority here

it costs too much in comparison to ave. income

i once went 2 decades seeing a dentist only once in that time, hell, i only recently decided that now i was an older lady i should make the dentist visit a regular thing

my hub was born in new orleans so his parents thought going to the dentist was just not worth the bother, it just wasn't done, needless to say he had to have a v. costly whole mouth reconstruction when he was older

[expatriate]

58. Even worse is the fact that most folks don't realize

that even if your teeth don't have cavities, tartar is THE cause of gum disease, and that regular professional cleanings are a must.

I just couldn't believe it when the dentist told me not only did I have bad teeth, but I also was starting with serious gum disease. After all, I brushed three or four times a day, flossed all the time, blah blah.

Had tartar built up from forty-odd years of not having checkups and professional cleaning. Came so close to just having to opt for dentures that it terrifying, and I'll be fighting the gum disease for the rest of my life.

Gum disease claims even more teeth than decay.

[Jeanette in FL]

46. Boy does that sound very familiar

Thanks for sharing your story, mine is quite similar.

[NorthernSpy]

62. I took to shining a penlight through my teeth while looking in a mirror...

... with the overhead light turned off. I started doing that as a teenager. I was looking for dark spots -- call it a budget x-ray. It's probably not a valid diagnostic method.

When I was a kid, I visited the dentist exactly twice. No cavities either time.

I think my teeth are fine, because I've always cared for them, and have no tooth, jaw, or face pain, and no headaches other than periodic hormonal migraines. My teeth aren't sensitive to hot, cold, or sweet things. Nothing bleeds. I thoroughly remove all the plaque from the gumline, and even have a box of those little red tablets to check my work. I don't drink anything with sugar in it.


Even so, your post scares me.

:think:

[expatriate]

74. I went to the dentist twice during childhood too.

That was the sum total of my dental care until I was 40.

One of the big problems is that even with careful cleaning and home care, tartar will eventually build up at the gumline.

I never thought to try the flashlight method - that might have helped me figure out what was going on. As it was, it was just accepted that I had "migraines", and no-one, including me, ever made the connection that the teeth could be causing the chronic headaches.

It's a scary thing - I never realized until I began to have my mouth rebuilt, how much decay in the teeth can affect the rest of the body.

[bobbieinok]

40. have to admit: I never realized poverty meant no dentist until

I read a book in grad school by HBoell......in the book set in Germany in the immediate post WWII period, one of the main characters never smiles b/c she is ashamed of her teeth; she has no money to do anything about it........I still remember how hard that realization hit me

when we lived in Newfoundland in the mid 70s, I noticed that many people were missing teeth......when my now ex went to the dentist with a toothache, the dentist didn't say anything--he just pulled the tooth....apparently that was standard for most people

[expatriate]

75. Sadly, having bad teeth pulled out is the usual option

of the poor - it's cheaper than having the tooth filled in almost all cases. What happens then is that the entire row of teeth shifts, undermining the strength of the gums. It eventually can lead to the loss of more teeth.

[Raksha]

44. I already did an extended rant on the condition of my teeth...

...a few days ago on another DU thread, so I won't repeat it. I'm on a V.A. widow's pension and I've had no health care and no dental care for 10 years, so my teeth are in the condition you'd expect. Three of them have broken off since I went through menopause, the last one less than two months ago. Although my teeth don't hurt, I'm now afraid to eat just about anything except eggs and oatmeal and applesauce. If I ever do get them fixed, I'll probably gain about 50 pounds!!!

[Hello_Kitty]

47. And the sugar loaded crap food that is all most poor can afford

Does not help matters.

[expatriate]

60. A poverty diet is horrific

Ramen noodles, cheap white bread, generic snack foods - all that very cheapest stuff - is the stuff that such nightmares are made of. It leads not only to tooth decay and chronic malnutrition, but also to a condition called insulin resistance, the precursor of Diabetes Type II. People with African and Native American ancestry are particularly prone to this condition, and the standard poverty diet of cheap carbohydrates is the absolute worst thing anyone with insulin resistance could consume. It leads to massive obesity, high insulin levels and eventually, to diabetes.

To say nothing of what it does to the teeth!

[enid602]

48. AZ

Here in AZ, Access (state medicade program) only pays for extractions. No other dental services.

[Vinca]

49. I just broke a crown off, tooth and all. After the root canal, post

and new crown it was nearly $2,000. That's why poor people are missing teeth. If mine hadn't been in the front I would have considered foregoing the expense, too. At least I had a choice. We need health care in this country for all INCLUDING dental care.

[BiggJawn]

53. Not surprising, Dental Care is considered secondary in this country.

I work for a major midwestern University
Until last year, we had NO dental insurance offered. and even NOW, the plan they offer doesn't pay for much.

So what I would do until I got sick and tired of it, was go to a dentist who has a real racket going on. He is a one-man office, yet has EIGHT treatment rooms going at once. His Hygenist works in one, and he runs from room to room, pokes around a little, makes a cut or 2 with the drill, then tells the Vo-Ed or High School girl who's his "assistant" what to do to finish up.

Now, if I had insurance, I'd pay maybe $15 out of pocket, and he probably has a volume rate with the insurer to take another $20 from them.

WITHOUT Insurance, I pay $65-70 for a restoration that not only would Dr. Greedy be happy getting $35 for, but it's also sloppy crap work. I've had 2 restorations that he "did" fail, and those 2 teeth now need Endo and crowns...

The insurance plan my employer offers has a $1000 annual cap. I still need almost 3 kilobucks of work done. Screw that.

So I continue to pay out of pocket. 2 "free" cleanings and exams a year, and only maybe 3/4 of a broken tooth fixed ain't worth the $300 a year premium...

I've been going to the dental school this summer. Anywhere from $41 to $68 for a restoration. I've spent maybe a Kilobuck this year, and I have another $2800 to spend next year. The work is of top-drawer quality, too.

Anyway, I kinda strayed from the topic here...What I wanted to add to this is that a LOT of people in this country don't HAVE $70 to spend for a shitty filling, nor $41 for a good one.

They put up with the decay until the pain becomes so bad that they go to the local clinic for an extraction (like I used to), or I don't wanna think about what they do otherwise.

After all, you can still eat soup and PBJ without teeth, right? Now get back to work!

[demo dutch]

57. That's kind of a trend in the south, unfortunately

[expatriate]

72. The South has nothing to do with it, it's a nationwide trend.

Go to any rural area, or any inner urban area where the majority of the people fall below the poverty line, work minimum wage jobs, and have no dental insurance. The teeth are bad, across the board.

Some of the worst teeth I've ever seen in my life were in the mouths of people in the Northeast - both ghetto dwellers and rural poor. Appalachia has a horrific incidence of poor dental care.

Tragically, when people are literally living hand to mouth, dental care is impossible to afford, no matter where you live - and there are poor people all over, with more falling into poverty every day.

Four million people in America slipped below the poverty line just last year.

Forty-five MILLION people in America have no health coverage whatsoever - no private health coverage, no work provided coverage, no Medicaid, no Medicare. Nothing.

It has nothing to do with the South, or being a "trend".

[undeterred]

61. I lost 3 teeth during 3 years without dental insurance

although that wouldn't be visible if you saw me on television. Even with insurance you still have to pay a few hundred for a root canal to save a tooth. I need a bridge but won't be able to afford one for a long time. I never thought I would have to do something like give up a tooth but now I am just glad I didn't lose more.

[Robertwf]

64. Is it meth as well as poverty?

Meth destroys teeth faster than a life-time of poor dental hygiene, non-existent dental care and bad diet. I don't know how bad the meth epidemic is down there, but it may explain some of the horror we saw.
Dentists should volunteer to go down there and run clinics for these people.

[NorthernSpy]

65. unlikely -- meth use is known to be uncommon among blacks

Interesting little feature of America's drug use landscape...

[Robertwf]

78. Au contraire around here

Actually, we are getting increased meth use among blacks around my neck of the woods. The bad teeth were among the poor without regard to race, so far as I noticed.

[sandnsea]

88. NO

The affects of meth is very different than lack of dental care. The teeth become small and broken, gaps between the teeth, just very different. Lack of dental care usually ends up with missing teeth and receding gumline. That's what I saw, not meth mouth which we have A LOT of where I live.

[anarch]

67. Dental insurance sucks ass...if you have it at all

I myself am missing teeth, and I'm not really all that poor. I just didn't have dental insurance for many, many years...and what are you gonna do? All you can afford when you go to the dentist is to get 'em pulled.

I also once had pneumonia that went untreated b/c I didn't have any money or health insurance, and was too stubborn to go to the ER (I already had a bunch of unpaid medical bills). When I finally found a clinic that would take me, the pneumonia had pretty much resolved on its own. I'm surprised I am still alive.

And again, I am not all that poor. In fact, I consider myself extremely lucky, compared to something like 50-60% of the world's population.

[expatriate]

77. Yep, I've been there too - had chronic pneumonia for five years

and just simply could not seek treatment. Had no health insurance, just could not afford another medical bill I would have to pay off.

That has become the situation for many many people, and what a lot of folks don't realize is that you don't even have to be desperately poor to get into that situation. Just end up without some kind of health insurance.

One trip to the doctor can cost far more than any moderately poor family can afford to pay out, to say nothing of prescriptions, follow up visits. A trip to the hospital, or surgery? Forget it, you will never in a zillion years be able to pay it off. The hospitals claim to "work with" patients without insurance, but they then figure your income without taking out the money you have to pay for food and utilities - only rent (at least this has been my experience). They then want to slap you with a monthly bill that will take all the rest of the money after what they allow for "living expenses" - usually just rent.

No wonder more and more people just try to tough out illness.

[anarch]

83. "a period of belt-tightening"

I think this was in a Dave Barry column or something, in the context of a supposed question and answer session with some expert or other...probably misquoted poorly by me here:

Q: What do you see on the horizon for our economy?

A: Well, I think we're in for a period of belt-tightening.

Q: You mean people will have to cut back on some of the extra luxuries in their budgets?

A: No, I mean people will have to use homemade tourniquets, because they can't afford health care.

[suffragette]

70. New Yorker had a recent article that examined our health system

Part of the article was about how people without health insurance go without dental care and how this has a devastating impact on every aspect of their lives.

From the article "THE MORAL-HAZARD MYTH: The bad idea behind our failed health-care system." by MALCOLM GLADWELL:

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050829fa_fact

People without health insurance have bad teeth because, if you’re paying for everything out of your own pocket, going to the dentist for a checkup seems like a luxury. It isn’t, of course. The loss of teeth makes eating fresh fruits and vegetables difficult, and a diet heavy in soft, processed foods exacerbates more serious health problems, like diabetes. The pain of tooth decay leads many people to use alcohol as a salve. And those struggling to get ahead in the job market quickly find that the unsightliness of bad teeth, and the self-consciousness that results, can become a major barrier. If your teeth are bad, you’re not going to get a job as a receptionist, say, or a cashier. You’re going to be put in the back somewhere, far from the public eye. What Loretta, Gina, and Daniel understand, the two authors tell us, is that bad teeth have come to be seen as a marker of “poor parenting, low educational achievement and slow or faulty intellectual development.” They are an outward marker of caste. “Almost every time we asked interviewees what their first priority would be if the president established universal health coverage tomorrow,” Sered and Fernandopulle write, “the immediate answer was ‘my teeth.’ ”

This is a rarely discussed aspect of the harm done to people by not adopting National Health Care.

[XanaDUer]

73. I am fortunate to now have a job with excellent dental, medical,

and vision insurance. Ironically, today I was able to walk into an optometrist / glasses place and pick out two designer frames and get everything, including vision examination, for a couple of hundred bucks.

This is after going without dental or vision for almost three years.

My SO is on Medicare, with no dental. Also today, he had the final fitting of his crown. Total expense: $1700 bucks, and he had to finish paying today before being treated. He is lucky I could help him with this expense, picking up the bulk of the bill. He had had an abscess and did not even know it. When he heard the cost for the root canal and crown, he wanted them to pull the tooth, but I told him no, he would regret that.

This country is the richest in the world and Americans accept this disparity in health and dental care like it is nothing in the world! But man, they are not going to miss some dumb reality TV show-that is really important, you know. :argh:

[zippy890]

76. it costs money to have pretty teeth

funny, I think people who have perfect really white teeth look a bit weird

[spacelady]

79. An ounce of prevention in the early years = a whole different scenario in

healthcare spending later on. Childhood health care that is available & affordable will drastically reduce a healthcare money drain in the future...who is willing to sacrifice?
The current administration could not care less as long as they've got theirs.
Why is this even an issue in the supposedly only superpower of the world? An egregious and deliberate circumstance in this nation.

[hedgehog]

80. I agree , it's not just a Southern problem

I've worked two places this year that have a lot of transient low wage workers. A lot of them were missing teeth. One employer provided dental insurance, the other offers it. Even with dental coverage, the insurance companies' "fair and reasonable" doesn't correspond to the local dental fees. At $6 or $8 an hour, there isn't a lot of money left at the end of the week for a co-pay. This is in New York State, which most people think has a cushy welfare system. Maybe for the rich, but not for the poor.