This
week we discuss the link between diabetes and dental care, learn that financial
issues are the main reason for delayed oral care, and discover why Americans
need to pay more attention to preventive care. Don’t forget to check out our Movember blog post to learn more about the
relationship between men’s health and dental health, and our new blog series, Why it Matters to Me. Join the
conversation on Twitter using #FridayDentalDL.
1. ADA report:
Financial issues are main reason for delayed dental care: Financial factors are often the main reason people delay
getting needed dental care, according to a new report for the ADA Health Policy
Institute. Furthermore, access to dental care will become more difficult as
millions of children and adults gain dental coverage under the Affordable Care
Act (ACA). The report also found that the percentage of people who needed but
could not access dental care fell from 18.2 percent in 2004 to 14.6 percent in
2012.
2. Dental
x-rays could be first step in osteoporosis screening: A new study shows panoramic dental x-rays can be used to help
identify low skeletal bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women, which
means that screening for spinal osteoporosis could begin in the dentist's
office. The study included 316 postmenopausal women who had no symptoms of
osteoporosis, however 159 had no history of hysterectomy, oophorectomy or
estrogen use, the remaining 157 had one or more of these histories. The study
found that dental x-rays were just as effective as questionnaires in
identifying those women. Dental x-rays, looking at the shape and width of the
jaw, were 87 percent effective in identifying women with spinal osteoporosis.
3. Cigna Dental
Insurance Study: Americans Need to Pay More Attention to Preventive Dental Care: According to a recent survey of U.S. consumers, more
than one-fourth of adults with dental insurance don’t take full advantage of
their preventive care benefits. Most
dental plans cover preventive checkups every six months, yet the study found
that people are avoiding getting any care during the year because of a fear of
the cost of fear of the dentist. Others say they don’t feel the need to get
checked more frequently than once per year because their teeth don’t hurt.
However, absence of pain does not mean absence of problems. For more
information about why preventive dental visits matter, click here.
4. Dentist
Involvement Recommended for Diabetes Care: Dentists are in a unique position to identify patients
with diabetes as well as patients already diagnosed with diabetes who are at increased risk for
complications. Researchers found that older people are more likely to visit a
dentist than a primary care physician. With the projected rise in chronic
diseases, including diabetes, and the growing shortage of primary care
physicians, it is important for dental and medical health care providers to
work together to tackle this public health issue. For more about the link
between oral health and diabetes click here.
5. DentaQuest
Foundation Grant Supports Oral health American’s Increased Focus on Older Adult
Health and Wellness: Every day 10,000
people retire and only 9.8 percent do so with a dental benefit. To reshape systems that will impact lifelong
oral health and stem the growing crisis facing older Americans when it comes to
paying for oral healthcare, the DentaQuest Foundation has awarded Oral Health America (OHA) with a
$299,450 grant. This grant will be used to support new initiatives within the Wisdom Tooth Project (WTP), OHA's program
that strives to improve access and utilization of care, health literacy and
policies that promote oral health equity for those most vulnerable.