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It is not the responsibility of the American taxpayer to provide health/dental insurance to anyone.
How to the medical plans in Canada, Europe, Cuba, Japan and other industrialized countries and areas handle dental care? What is the dental health picture for citizens there? How are dentists paid there? A followup story is clearly due here.
How do the medical plans in Canada, Europe, Cuba, Japan and other industrialized countries and areas handle dental care? What is the dental health picture for citizens there? How are dentists paid there? A followup story is clearly due here.
Dental care is just as important as ordinary healthcare. Many diseases and infections originate in the mouth.
Poor dental health is strongly connected with poor birth outcomes, including low birth weight and premature labor. (Google it or look on pubmed.com) By giving pregnant women dental care, many dollars spent on a preemie baby could be avoided.
One thing I have never understood: My health insurer won't cover dental work. But if I can't afford dental work, and end up with an abscess that becomes sepsis or a brain infection, they will pay for me to spend days or weeks in the hospital. Does that make sense? Not to me it doesn't. Teeth are as much a part of the body as kidneys, and yet health insurers have weaseled out of paying for dental care. How did that happen? And don't get me started on why health insurers think eye exams that might prevent me from falling should not be covered.
How is it that this girl could afford a bunch of tatoos, but not a trip to the dentist? I do agree that dental care and health care are the same thing, but they could have found a better poster child than someone who pays to make herself look unemployable.
If society can't come together and provide reasonable dental care to its citizens than what is society for?
This article is a long one so I will have to read the rest of it later. BUT. Excellent for covering dental as an important part of the healthcare story. I could hardly believe the food fight over health reform ended without any discussion about dental. The only time I saw it mentioned on tv was when Wendell Potter publicized the fact that volunteer healthcare "expeditions", which we expect to see in developing nations, were happening right here in America because the need is so strong despite our status as most wealthy nation. The images depicted urgent dental services provided in the open air (http://www.ramusa.org/services/dental.htm). Dental care IS healthcare and that's an important message. So I hope this is just the beginning. We're not done with health reform and dental deserves its time in the spotlight.
I have an idea...brush your teeth and floss! Whatever happened to personal responsibility?
Maybe the young lady needs to stop paying for tattoos and green hair dye, and start saving for dental care.
Dartvader, I agree, Tattoos are not cheap and hair dy is a once a month process. Money spent on vanity instead of health care!! I have not had dental insurance since 2005 but good oral hygine and regular cleanings are much cheaper than tatoos and filings.....
So this writer belives that Obamacare wasn't comprehensive enough? At the rate Obama and the Dems are going its better for me to be unemployed. Why work for a living and earn benefits? Just leech off of society. Obama will provide.
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Judging by this girls picture, if all she has is cavities, she's way ahead of the game. More free stuff, drill sergeant , more free stuff.
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