Posted on 07/03/2017 10:20:25 AM PDT by re_tail20
Two years.
That's how long low-income children must wait for procedures that require general anesthesia at the pediatric dental clinic at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry.
"We have babies come to us who already have a mouthful of decay," said Marcio da Fonseca, who heads UIC's department of pediatric dentistry and oversees the clinic. "It's the result of a combination of poor diet, poor oral hygiene, poor parental education and a lack of access to routine care."
The problem cases go on a waiting list for treatment under general anesthesia that's more than 800 names long.
Nearly all the clinic's patients are on Medicaid, da Fonseca said, and because only 1 in 5 private dentists now see Medicaid clients and many aren't taking new patients, families come to his West Side clinic from as far away as the Quad Cities and Springfield.
Greg Johnson, Illinois State Dental Society executive director, said Medicaid pays Illinois dentists about 20 cents on the dollar, one of the lowest reimbursement rates in the country, and that the number of participating dentists has dropped by more than 40 percent in the last two years.
Patients line up two days in advance for Mission of Mercy events, free weekendlong clinics offered every two years in Illinois for thousands of patients. Nationally, 114 million people have no dental coverage, compared to an estimated 28 million who lack medical coverage. Part of the reason is that many states provide skimpy or nonexistent Medicaid dental benefits for adults.
Da Fonseca said his clinic, which has 36 chairs and sees 18,000 patients a year, is running an annual deficit of more than $300,000.
And that's now, after what the American Dental Association says has been an era in which dental care for the poor has improved...
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Zorn is an unashamed Lefty / Liberal, and he plays the “Crises” and “Children” cards boldly here, with no shame, to start the drumbeat.
He has a point, in a way, though. Both Liberals and Conservatives want to detach health insurance from employment, liberals for National Health Insurance, and Conservatives for First Person, Market Insurance.
I’ve said to myself during the last eight years, “What about Dental?”
This is an opportunity for the Conservatives / Republicans, if they succeed at threading the needle and get a Market Health Insurance Bill to President Trump to sign into law. They can then be consistent and pass an American Dental Insurance Act, making Dental Insurance First Person and Market.
We shall see.
I go every 3 months instead of every 6 months (4 times a year). I have to pay out of pocket the extra 2 times that insurance does not cover. It is worth the money! I recommend it to everyone.
“We have babies come to us who already have a mouthful of decay,” said Marcio da Fonseca...
Send them to the UK...They really take care of babies....
Oh...Wait....
Guess how we get our dental care.
We pay for it, and it’s expensive these days.
5.56mm
So why do I have to pay for the dental repairs when parents are giving their kids Mountain Dew in a sippee cup or when the meth addicts teeth are all abscessed and falling out? Personal responsibility died when LBJ instituted the welfare state.
They can bite me.
HaHa...I crack myself up.
Maybe Medicaid pediatricians should prescribe fluoride pills. I was terrible brushing my teeth when I was a child but I took vitamins with fluoride and had no cavities until four years after I started brushing my teeth and stopped taking the pills.
No... its because parents are too busy spending money on smart phones and 40 ouncers instead of toothbrushes and toothpaste.
It’s the result of a combination of poor diet, poor oral hygiene, poor parental education and a lack of access to routine care.”
So basically it’s 80-90% the parent’s fault? And lets all be honest - it is in large part the black families reliance on sugar drinks and snacks as a food group that is driving this.
A good start towards a solution, Ready?
Do what your Mother told you to do:
Brush your teeth after you eat and before you go to bed.
Floss daily.
Avoid high sugar foods.
Drink plenty of water.
Once we have that part down, then we can get to the professional care stuff.
Is it the government’s role to take care of our teeth (and the rest of our health)?
Let’s get back to discussions of the government’s proper function. _IF_ our teeth are the government’s responsibility then I DEMAND we outlaw soda (if it causes problems).
As a rule, I hate “soda laws”. I think people should be allowed to eat/drink what they want. But if my tax dollars are going to take care of people’s teeth (and, while we have $20 trillion debt) it’s ridiculous to let people do harm to their teeth and then have the government pay for it (with my taxes). Maybe soda’s not the problem I think it is and we need a bigger discussion. Maybe government monitoring of our daily brushing/flossing is what we need. If the government is responsible for our oral health, it seems perfectly reasonable that they would be allowed to monitor our management of this asset that they are responsible for protecting.
Then again, there is the other theory of government: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need”.
If someone needs oral care (or health insurance) the government should give it to them, no questions asked.
Actually, a lot of them won’t be able to do more than gum you.
I had a partial denture several years ago. The dentist left the invoice in the little box it came in and it showed he owed $100 for the denture. Know how much he charged me? $1,000. My question is why do dentist charge such ridiculous prices?
I wonder if adding the fluoride poison to our public waters has had ANY impact on cavities.....
Rent seeking
This is just a warning. After they get “free” health insurance, paid for by the suckers who continue to work, they will demand dental insurance. After that, it will be hearing aids and eyeglasses. Don’t think it will stop there. They never stop.
Brush/floss, no fruit juice in bottles, no soda. It really is that simple.
The article reads like Chicago is a third world country...
Waiting for days for care in long lines...
Oh’ wait...
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