Healthcare policies need to adequately address dental health of entire families

Dr. Steven Adair, Chief Dental Officer for FORBA, one of the nation's largest dental practice management firms focused on high-quality dental care for underserved communities, today raised concerns that a new government report on a lack of dental coverage for adults may also underscore ongoing oral health challenges for children from low-income families.

“This should include policies that create access to professional dental care for their parents as well.”

"With studies suggesting a link between the oral health of children and their parents, it is imperative that future healthcare policies adequately address the dental health of entire families," said Adair, a pediatric dentist and former professor of pediatric dentistry at the Medical College of Georgia. "The most recent government report underscores a potentially larger problem of insufficient oral health in low-income families that will further slow efforts to ensure that every child receives the dental care they need."

According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released in June, an estimated 45 million Americans do not have dental insurance. Under the health reforms passed in March, adults who must buy health insurance by 2014 are not required to buy dental coverage. While children's dental coverage is required in the reforms, another CDC study released in February revealed that children of parents who seldom seek dental care are also unlikely to make regular trips to a dentist.

"Coverage is only one part of the picture," said Adair. "It is vital for both children and adults to see a dentist at least twice a year. If more parents make regular trips to the dentist, it increases the likelihood that their children will also receive proper care."

The CDC data about low-income adults mirrors statistics on dental health among economically disadvantaged children, who are three times more likely to have untreated tooth decay compared with children from more affluent families. Children from low-income households are also five times more likely to have cavities, have three times the number of decayed teeth and are only half as likely to see a dentist in any given year.

"We should be doing everything we can to ensure that America's children have access to dental care," said Adair. "This should include policies that create access to professional dental care for their parents as well."