Does Oral Health Matter? provides an overview of oral health issues.

Does Oral Health Matter?

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(May 2005, pdf format, 907 KB)
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From the Introduction:

Despite advances in oral health due to the introduction of water fluoridation and dental sealants, many Americans still suffer pain and disability from what are often preventable dental diseases. In June 2000, the first-ever U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health referred to dental disease as a costly, painful, and preventable “silent epidemic” affecting millions of vulnerable Americans everyday. That same year, the Ohio Department of Health’s (ODH) “Access to Dental Care Report” echoed the findings of the Surgeon General. The ODH report confirmed that many Ohioans, particularly low-income, minority, and rural populations have significant oral health needs and limited access to dental care. Two years prior to these reports, the Ohio Family Health Survey identified dental care as the number one unmet health care need of Ohioans.

Unfortunately, many people lack a basic understanding of the importance of oral health. As emphasized in the Surgeon General’s report, oral health means more than just healthy teeth. The report highlighted the following lesser known facts about oral health:

• Oral health is integral to one’s general health and well-being;
• Left untreated, oral diseases can infect the bloodstream and lead to severe systemic infections in other parts of the body;
• While most common dental diseases are preventable, too often they go untreated, often due to limited access to oral health care;
• Profound and consequential oral health disparities exist within the U.S. population.

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the significance of oral health. It will report on the status of oral health at the national and state levels, examine disparities in access to oral health care, identify barriers to oral health care, discuss the role of safety net clinics, and review recommendations for improvement.