- Who Needs Dry January More: Rural or Urban Drinkers?
- Rural Families Have 'Critical' Need for More Hospice, Respite Care
- States Help Child Care Centers Expand in Bid To Create More Slots, Lower Prices
- Rural Telehealth Sees More Policy Wins, but Only Short-Term
- Healing a Dark Past: The Long Road To Reopening Hospitals in the Rural South
- Study: Obstetrics Units in Rural Communities Declining
- Q&A: Angela Gonzales (Hopi), on New Indigenous Health Research Dashboard
- Not All Expectant Moms Can Reach a Doctor's Office. This Kentucky Clinic Travels to Them.
- Hawaiʻi's Physician Shortage Hits Maui Hardest
- Choctaw Nation Found a Better Way to Deliver Harm Reduction. It's Working.
- In Rural America, Heart Disease Is Increasingly Claiming Younger Lives
- HHS Launches Healthy Border 2030 Framework Highlighting Health Priorities and Actions to Support Border Communities and Populations
- Gaps in Mental Health Training, Rural Access to Care Compound Az's Maternal Mortality Crisis
- Enticing Rural Residents to Practice Where They Train
- New Round of Federal Funding Open for Rural Health Initiatives
DentaQuest Report Part 1: The Burden of Dental Care Costs for Low-Income Families
Did you know that people living in poverty spend ten times more as a proportion of their annual family income on dental services than high-income families? Click here to read Part 1 of our 3-part series that outlines barriers to dental care based on income, and how expansion of an adult dental benefit could increase access to care and reduce out-of-pocket costs.
Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3 in our series about the burden of out-of-pocket costs of dental care for low-income families. Visit our Research page for other research briefs, white papers, articles and more.
Read the report from DentaQuest here: https://www.dentaquestpartnership.org/system/files/Poverty%20Report.pdf
Oral Health Advocates Flood Capitol Hill
On October 24, 2019, members of the Oral Health Progress and Equity Network (OPEN) from across the nation met with Congressional offices to talk about the importance of oral health. Advocates presented each office they met with three policy asks to improve oral health outcomes; include oral health coverage under Medicare Part B, include oral health as a mandatory component of pregnancy-related benefits in Medicaid, and increase funding for the CDC Division of Oral Health to support an oral health program in every state.
New Online Resource Addresses Oral Health Needs
The American Academy of Pediatrics has published the “Oral Health Prevention Primer,” an online resource for pediatricians and providers who want to do more to address the oral health needs of children. The resource will help providers working with children understand the roles of various oral health allies, how they can collaborate, ways to provide oral health services, and how to advocate to achieve optimal oral health for their community with the goal of preventing dental disease before it starts.
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Asking for Public Comment
The United States Preventive Services Task Force has announced an opportunity for public comment on “Draft Research Plan for Prevention of Dental Caries in Children Younger Than Age 5 Years: Screening and Interventions.” All comments must be submitted electronically and are due by October 16, 2019. Click here to view the full report and submit comments.
World Cavity-Free Day 2019
World Cavity-Free Day is October 14, 2019. This initiative was launched by the Alliance for a Cavity-Free Future in 2016. Use the 2019 resource pack to find family resources, professional resources, posters, images, infographics, a toolkit, and background information to promote World Cavity-Free Day in your area. Click here to view the resource pack.
A New Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health Commissioned
VADM Jerome Adams has commissioned a Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health. The Report is on track to be released in 2020 and will include the input of hundreds of experts and numerous organizations. The newly commissioned report will describe key issues that currently affect oral health, and identify challenges and opportunities that have emerged since publication of the first report in 2000.
Good Oral Health a Positive Part of the Ageing Process
The world’s population is ageing, and experts predict that by 2050, 25% of the world’s population – 2 billion people – will be over 60 years old. A fifth of these – 400 million – will be over 80 years old. Epidemiological studies show that older persons are particularly affected by poor oral health, with negative consequences on their general health. Oral conditions such as dental caries, periodontal disease, tooth loss, dry mouth or oral cancer affect their chewing function and nutritional intake, as well as their ability to interact socially.
Continue reading “Good Oral Health a Positive Part of the Ageing Process”
Study Ties Poor Oral Health in Kids to Adult Heart Disease Risk
Reuters Health reports on a new study that finds children who develop cavities and gum disease may be more likely to develop risk factors for heart attacks and strokes decades later than kids who have good oral health. Kids who had even one sign of poor oral health were 87% more likely to develop subclinical atherosclerosis; children with four signs of poor oral health were 95% more likely to develop this type of artery damage. Periodontal disease in adults has long been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Economic Impact of a Bad Smile Estimated at $27 Million
An article in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry describes the impact improving oral health could have on employability. Dr. Halasa-Rappel, PhD and her co-authors used the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey to develop a Dental Problem Index (DPI) to quantify the impact of dental caries and missing anterior teeth on employment, and estimate the impact of a routine dental visit on the health of anterior teeth and the benefits of expanding dental coverage for non-elderly adults. They found that a routine dental visit has a negative impact on the DPI and improves the probability of employment and estimated that improvement in dental coverage would improve the employability of 9,972 non-elderly adults with an associated annual fiscal impact of $27 million.