The Lion's Pride Volume 9 (January 2018) | Page 61
to even worse situations for their health, if their dental issues are left
untreated. I’ve provided two examples of negative dental outcomes that
are independent of poor dental hygiene and there are a lot more. So, the
argument that only people with poor dental hygiene have dental
problems is a logical fallacy that confuses correlation with causation.
The current US dental health system leads to gaps in coverage for
vulnerable groups. The disabled, children, elderly, minorities and people
with pre-existing conditions face significant barriers to receiving quality
health and dental care. The consequences of this disparity are economic
and physical; less healthy populations require more resources devoted to
health care. The US spends relatively little on dental care as a percentage
of overall public expenditures compared to several other English-
speaking countries (Birch & Anderson, 2005), so there is certainly room
for improvement. However, any increased spending must be directed in
effective ways: changing the perception of the public, policymakers, and
health providers on oral health; removing barriers between people and
oral health services; and improving oral health from disproportionately
impacted groups (HHS, 2000).