Socioeconomic Status

Oral health has a direct impact on the general health, hence, it is important that all Canadians have adequate access to dental care services. Over the years successive Governments have reduced financial support to programs delivering dental care to most vulnerable populations. As a result, many low income families and other vulnerable groups have been unable to access dental care. There is further escalation in the disparities in oral health care among Canadians, as the number of Canadians losing dental care benefits continues to increase. Also, higher oral health care costs can be expected in the near future due to shortage of health care professionals.

Evidence increasingly shows that poor oral health is associated with functional disability that can lead to deficits and decline” (Overview of oral health, 2017). According to an article in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, dental fear can have a significant impact on a person’s awareness of their oral health, as well as one’s pro-active steps towards prevention and treatment. Therefore, it is paramount in helping a patient alleviate their fear by listening to the patient, acknowledging their concerns, and taking things slowly (Yildirim,

The first health disparity I would like to discuss is Oral health interventions among Hispanics, especially among Hispanic children. An article, “Community-based oral health self-care intervention for Hispanic families”, By Hull and other authors, focuses on monitories who are at high risk for poor oral health have dental caries, oral disease and not having much access to dental care based on their socioeconomic status Hull, 2013).

While most of the patients I interacted with were seeking non-dental care, I met patients who were seeking care to health conditions that stem from their oral health such as oral abscesses, which our team was unable to treat except for prescribing antibiotics or painkillers. I encountered similar situations when I shadowed physicians in the emergency room of hospitals, observing a variety of craniofacial disorders originating from a preventable tooth decay. From these observations, I learned that patients often did not receive treatment that addressed the root of their problems: their oral health. As the result, I learned that many physicians saw the same patient repeatedly for problems that would otherwise be easily prevented through proper preventive dental care. Determining to address the unmet needs for accessible preventive dental care, I decided to pursue a career in dentistry so that I can provide a positive and meaningful impact to the underserved community on their oral health and ultimately their overall

Many low income areas have dental therapists as part of their local dental team. Many people in these areas have never been to a dentist or do not go every six months as recommended this poses many other health problems. There has been case studies and data showing that in these areas dental health

Dental insurance coverage is a key determinant on whether to seek care or not. The exclusion of our mouths from the rest of our body parts and not receiving the care it requires is quite impossible to rationalize (McClymont, 2015). Dental care is essential in the maintenance of good oral health and in the identification of symptoms of systemic conditions that most likely are manifested through the mouth. As striking and conspicuous as it may sound, Canada has indeed a type of health care system wherein mouth is excepted as a part of the body. As a matter of fact, our lips, tongues, and throats are securely covered while our teeth and gums are left out from the privilege. The most common infectious disease in the world are dental diseases, and the fact that many health issues can be first diagnosed through the oral cavity validates its importance and co-relevance to the rest of our body. Studies have linked poor oral health such as severity of gum infection to AIDS, first stages of osteoporosis, reveal nutritional deficiencies, immune disorders, cancer, and so on and so forth. Xerostomia or dry mouth for an instance is often a symptom of undetected diabetes. Diabetic patients have higher risks of gum infection caused by increased blood sugar, thickening of blood vessels resulting to hindered healing process that is why they are obligated to undergo pre-medication as a form

Additionally, the lack of dental education of parents is a deciding factor in the condition of their children’s teeth. The increase

Lack of access to dental health services and providers also affects utilization rates within the adult Medicaid population (Licata & Paradise, 2012; Davis., Deinard &, Maïga, 2010; MacDougall, 2016; Hinton & Paradise 2016; PEW Center on the

(2015) and Dodd et al. (2014), Decker & Lipton (2015) have utilized data qualitatively, which verily served the purpose of gaining rich information on the perceptions of the respondents on dental care and health. This is also important to consider, especially since most of the studies are done quantitatively. Although both qualitative and quantitative studies are good on their own, both also have considerable weaknesses. It would be interesting as well to see more researches done in mixed method in order to fill in the weaknesses of these two. It will be also good to note if the study by Decker & Lipton (2015) can be replicated in different sample—such as other minority groups or a more heterogeneous sample. In this way, the scholar literature can be expanded by our knowledge about dental health that is growing to be a public health issue in United States and in other parts of the world. Given the qualitative data gathered by Decker & Lipton (2015), it will be helpful if better public policies are made to cater to these sensitive populations. This is also true in the suggestion of Dodd et al. (2014) on the widening of the Medicaid coverage among adults—and on the reconsideration not to deflouridate the water supply in New York in the study by Edelstein et al. (2015). As mentioned by Edelstein et al. (2015), removing the fluoride content in the New York water supply could only worsen the rates of early childhood carries. In the long run,

accept Medicaid and this might result in higher utilization in particular wards over others. We did not have information about parental marital status and other private insurance, which could be used for dental services and not reflect in Medicaid billing data. Also, there could be a potential bias due to delayed reporting of the data which might not be included in the dataset when we received it. Also, Centre for Medicaid Services (CMS) uses the information from these datasets and presents it by financial year whereas this analysis was done by calendar year, which may not match with the generally available information. Also, the composition of Medicaid population might not be a true representation of over-all population. People having private dental insurance might have a different utilization pattern for assigned dental home and preventive dental services. We also feel that the information of ward might not be an accurate representation of utilization since people may seek services from a provider in different wards than the one in which they reside. Having data about unique providers, along with unique patient might make a robust database to get more accurate information. Last but not the least, we restricted our definition preventive dental services to a combination of examination and fluoride application, which is not the same as followed by

While the private sector provides excellent quality of oral health care for its patients, many vulnerable groups have difficulty with access.2 It is also these vulnerable groups who demonstrate extremely high levels of oral health disease. According to a 2014 report issued by the Canadian Academy of Health Services (CAHS), the following represent Canada’s most vulnerable groups: individuals with low incomes; younger age children living in low-income families; individuals working without dental insurance; elderly populations with low incomes and/or living in institutions; aboriginal people, immigrants/refugees; people with disabilities; and, populations living in rural/remote communities.2 The CAHS authors report that increasingly and in light of challenging economic times, families from lower-middle income strata are also demonstrating difficulty with accessing oral health care (this is partially attributable to an increasing tendency toward part-time employment rather than full-time employment with benefits).

Dental care coverage is much less dominant than medical care coverage in the United States. When compared between medical and dental coverage of adults over the age of 21, about 15 percent have no form of medical care coverage, but over 45 percent have no form of dental care coverage (Brown & Manski, 2004; Buchmueller, Miller, & Vujicic, 2014). Moreover, Americans over 65 continue to be the age group with

A Report of the Surgeon General stated that minority and low-income children in the United States experience poorer oral health and poorer access to dental health care services than do their majority and higher-income peers (Oral Health in America, 2000). Two major factors that determine access to dental care are the limited supply of both dentists and public financing for underserved populations (Mertz, 2002). ). Dental disease like tooth decay not only affects children’s overall health; it has other ramifications, including children’s hours lost from school, deteriorating school performance and behavior, and in extreme cases, serious disability and even death.

The article “History Of Teeth” and the informational text “Where Are All The Dentists” by Kristian Lewis, talks about how access to good dental care is important. One example to show people need access to good dental care is George Washington, he had fake teeth. The article states “George Washington had only one tooth left by time he became president-a fact that bothered him greatly” (Lewis 13). This shows why people need access to good dental care because, George Washington disliked that fact that he was missing so many teeth, if someone is missing that many teeth then, their gums would hurt as well as it would be hard to eat. Another example is kids often get cavities that are untreated. The informational text states “What's more, one in

The purpose of this paper is to describe the risk of transmitting caries-inducing bacteria from mother to child and to educate teen mothers about preventing such bacterial transfer.  Dental caries are not often thought of as a contagious disease, but it can be.  Many common parenting behaviors can contribute to the transfer of oral bacteria to the child.  Teen mothers may be unaware of or uneducated about risky behaviors and caries prevention.  Educating teen mothers about how to prevent bacterial transfer may reduce the incidence of childhood caries in the community.