Leon Barretto

Patients without Dental Care access are more susceptible to chronic illnesses and inappropriate acute utilization. For instance, people without dental benefits—when compared to those with dental benefits—are 67% more likely to have heart disease, 50% more likely to have osteoporosis, and 29% more likely to have diabetes. Oral disease is both chronic and cumulative.

But dodging or delaying dental care can have significant impacts on overall patient wellness, and may lead to more expensive, invasive, and painful procedures down the line.  Dentists can act as the first line of defense for the prevention and detection of oral cancers, gum disease that results in bone loss, and difficult-to-treat infections that start in the teeth and jaws.

They can also contribute significantly to the health system’s understanding of socioeconomic patterns of chronic disease and patient activation, since poor oral health often goes hand-in-hand with lower levels of education, restricted access to care, and lower rates of health insurance coverage.

Studies demonstrate that access to dental care can result in significant cost savings. For example:

• Medical costs among adult Medicaid beneficiaries with seven chronic conditions decreased by 31% to 67% when they received a preventive dental benefit (National Association of Dental Plans); and
• Patients with Type 2 diabetes who were treated for periodontal disease experienced $2,840 savings in annual medical costs and a $1,477 decrease in drug costs, when compared with patients with Type 2 diabetes whose periodontal disease was not treated (Journal of Preventive Medicine).

Oral health also has behavioral and emotional impacts, as patients with significant dental problems may feel hesitant to engage in common social situations requiring a laugh or a smile, may be more likely to turn to opioids or other substances to self-medicate painful conditions, and might suffer from increased anxiety or depression over looming debts exacerbated by delays in care.