Pew: Children Lack Access to Basic Dental Services
Having just made my annual dental appointment, this caught my eye (via the Pew Center on the States):
“The issue brief Two Kinds of Dental Shortages Fuel One Major Access Problem by the Pew Children’s Dental Campaign highlights the lack of access to basic dental care. Each year, an estimated 17 million children in the U.S. go without basic dental care. As a result, these kids miss more days of school and see their overall health suffer.”
Each February, during Children’s Dental Health month, kids are reminded of the importance of proper dental hygiene and regular dental check-ups. But, as Pew notes, for millions of children, seeing a dentist is almost impossible because there isn’t one nearby or the one that is nearby doesn’t accept Medicaid patients.
The Pew report says that more than 30 million Americans are underserved due to a nationwide dentist shortage. In some states — South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, for instance — the problem is particularly acute: more 20 percent of residents are unable to locate a dentist.
Read the full report here.