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).