Challenges Facing the American Dental System – Are They Solvable?

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http://worldental.org/dental-insurance/challenges-facing-american-dental-system-solvable/4713/

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