The Lion's Pride Volume 9 (January 2018) | Page 50
Oral Health Outcomes and Access: A Study of the US Dental Health
System
Alanna Lachowsky
I am currently a student who is pursuing a career in Dental Hygiene. I
have been in the dental field for 4 years and have learned a tremendous
amount about healthcare, which was the inspiration to this research
piece.
Everyone will need medical and dental care in the course of their life.
So, physical and mental medical benefits affect everyone regardless of
economic status, skin color or age, or even existing physical or mental
conditions. Given the structure of the medical industry in the US, where
insurance and pharmaceutical companies benefit the most because of the
high cost of medicinal drugs, treatments, and procedures, having
adequate medical insurance is crucial to people’s quality of life. From
regular checkups to ongoing treatment to emergency procedures,
maintaining personal health can be very expensive and time consuming.
Especially vulnerable groups include children, minorities, the disabled,
and the elderly. Balancing personal finances and personal health is a
source of great stress for everyone in the US who isn’t comfortably
wealthy or otherwise extravagantly rich. The decisions everyday people
face when confronted with treatment plans that can be relatively
expensive for their financial situations have very serious consequences
for their health and quality of life. This paper explores recent research
around dental health outcomes in the US and argues that there are