About 100 Million people in the United States are without dental coverage, and more than 1/3 have not visited a dentist within the past year.  Several dentists around the country, including those from Montana, are stepping up to the plate and offering free or low cost dental care to those who cannot afford it.  Read this article from DentalPlans.com…

Original Source: DentalPlans.com

The New York Times recently reported that more than 100 million people in the U.S. don’t have dental care and that roughly 35 percent of Americans haven’t seen a dentist in the last year.

Several dentists in Montana decided they wanted to do what they could to remedy America’s dental care problem, according to NBC. Coming from Billings, Broadview and Laurel, these dental care professionals decided to hold Give Back a Smile, a one-day free event for individuals without coverage.

“I don’t think anyone really enjoys coming to the dentist, but everyone we’ve had in here have just been very thankful and very grateful,” Dr Christopher Hirt told the news provider. “These are the sort of toothaches that have been keeping people up at night they can’t function, they can’t eat, and they’ve just been so grateful for us to get them to a place where they can just resume a normal life.”

The event was held on November, 20, and the dentists saw 92 patients. While free care days such as this one are a good temporary solution for people without dental coverage, they can’t permanently replace regular visits to the dentists because they’re often held on a first-come, first-served basis, meaning treatment isn’t necessarily provided to everyone who attends.

The Mayo Clinic says health problems such as periodontitis can be avoided by brushing twice a day and seeing a dentist regularly.

In an article last week about the dental industry, it was argued that the American Dental Industry, much like the Medical Industry, is about to face a major crisis.  The article claims that for a variety of reasons, the turmoil is evident, and there hasn’t been much focus on it to spread awareness about the changes in dental insurance plans.

Is this true?  Is dental care really hitting a rut, a roadblock?  Or can we look at it in a different light?  The author of the article reported “Whereas only 10.3 percent of physician costs, 3.3 percent of hospital care, and 26.8 percent of nursing-care expenses were paid out-of-pocket in 2007, Americans paid 44.2 percent of dental bills themselves.”  Does this mean that dental bills are overly expensive, or, could we interpret this to simply mean that people have a good, firm understanding of their dental costs when compared to medical fees?  It’s not accurate to think that people aren’t paying as much for medical care; it’s just that many of the associated costs are hidden or foreign (in contrast to personal dental insurance) .

In a different article from Forbes, Joshua Zumbrun talks about “how affordable some options for dental care are, mentioning the student clinic at NYU. I’ve been there, incidentally, as a close friend of mine went to dental school at NYU. The clinic is crazy cheap, after a student looks you over, one of the real dentists comes by to double check, it’s clean, if a bit crowded.”  He goes on to say that there is basic, affordable dental insurance, and that regular coverage can typically be bought for about $25 monthly, which is very reasonable when compared to traditional, medical healthcare (though low cost dental care may carry a maximum benefit cap).

For those who need operations, like root canals and wisdom tooth extractions, standard dental coverage may not be the best option – it likely will not cover expensive surgical procedures or emergency dental care (cosmetic dental care, either).  However, it is extremely rare that this is ever the case, and most dental procedures are not priced to the sky – unlike the fees their medical counterparts charge for procedures and tests.  And what if you do have to pay an overly expensive bill?  Zumbrun will tell you to just borrow it, stating “I borrowed money to go to school. Some people, because of their parents, or a work benefit, or a scholarship, or whatever, went to school for much less or even for free. But I don’t consider it some grave injustice that I took out some loans when others didn’t.”  Take out a loan or ask for financial assistance.  Education is important, and so is your oral health.  There is a parallel.

The main point is, there is likely no dental healthcare crisis that is either prevalent or on the rise at this time.  While there are some out of pocket expenses, and some people have limited or no coverage, the industry is in much better shape that the medical healthcare industry.  Paying out of pocket might be frustrating, and out of pocket expenses might be higher on a percentage basis, but overall costs and benefits are definitely very reasonable within a cheap dental plan.  The system, at this point, actually seems to be working fairly well.