Proposal for National Dental Plan

Paper Summary:

This paper presents an examination of national dental care and argues the time has come to implement such a plan in the United States. The writer discusses health issues that can arise from dental problems that will have a negative impact on the medical community, and provides the argument that a national dental program will help to alleviate the risk for those diseases and illnesses. In addition the writer argues that children should be provided national dental care so that they can enter adulthood with healthy teeth and gums.

Introduction
Why
Is it Possible?
The Time has Come
Canada's Health Care System (Medicare)
How it Could Work
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"For the past few years the skyrocketing cost of health care has come under fire by politicians, voters and media outlets on a regular basis, but the increasing rise in dental care has been largely ignored. Dental care costs have increased along with health care costs. At the same time it is becoming increasingly difficult for Americans to get dental care at affordable rates and sometimes at any rate.
One of the reasons that dental care is becoming increasingly difficult for people to obtain in the states is because of the reduced number of dentists practicing in the dental field today. The availability of dental professionals compared to the ratio of potential patients creates a backlog of availability in which many patients are being turned away or being asked to wait months for needed care(Dental Care http://drc.nidcr.nih.gov/report/images/section16-wrkfrce_cost.pdf.).
"Dental insurance coverage, the lack of dental health professionals in many areas of the country prevents those living in under-served areas from obtaining optimum oral health care. The ratio of dentists to population by state ranges from 31.3 to 69.0 per 100,000 population (Dill et al., 2000). The District of Columbia has a higher ratio of dentists to population (94.9 per 100,000) than any state. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bell, Allison(1997) Dental managed care bills appear in Texas, Illinois. National Underwriter Life & Health-Financial Services Edition
• Fact Sheet Oral Health for Adults Back to Fact Sheets and FAQs accessed 05-14-06 http://www.cdc.gov/OralHealth/factsheets/adult.htm
• Gillings, DB,(1983) J Public Health Dent. 1983 Winter;43(1):8-25. Related Articles, Links A need-based model to project national dental expenditures.
• Health Care System accessed 5-14-06 http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/index_e.htm health accessed 05-14-06 http://drc.nidcr.nih.gov report/images/section16-wrkfrce_cost.pdf.

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