Essay - National Dental Plan This Paper Presents an Examination of National...

National Dental Plan

This paper presents an examination of national dental care and argues the time has come to implement such a plan in the United States. The writer discusses health issues that can arise from dental problems that will have a neg*****tive impact on the medical community, and provides ***** argument that a national dental program will help to alleviate the risk for those diseases and illnesses. In addition ***** writer argues that children should be provided national dental ***** so that they can enter adulthood with health teeth and gums. There were four sources used to complete this paper.

INTRODUCTION

For the past few years the skyrocket*****g cost of health care has ***** under fire by politicians, voters and media outlets on a regular basis, but ***** increasing rise in dental care ***** been largely ignored. Dental ***** costs have *****creased al*****g with health care costs. At the same time it is becoming ********** difficult ***** Americans to get dental care at affordable rates and sometimes at any rate.

***** of the reasons that ***** care ***** becoming increasingly difficult for people to obtain in ***** states is because of the reduced number of dentists practicing in the dental field today. The availability ***** dental professionals compared to ***** ratio of potential patients creates a backlog of availability in which m***** patients are being turned away or being asked ***** wait months for needed *****(Dental Care (http://drc.nidcr.nih.gov/report/images/section16-wrkfrce_cost.pdf.).

Dental insurance coverage, the lack of dental health professionals in many areas of the country prevents those living in under-served areas from ********** optimum oral health care. ***** ***** of dentists to population by state ranges from 31.3 to 69.0 per 100,000 population (Dill et al., 2000). The District of Columbia has a higher r*****tio of dentists to population (94.9 per 100,000) than any state. The cost of dental care may also interfere with people's ability to obtain dental services(Dental ***** (http://drc.nidcr.nih.gov/report/images/section16-wrkfrce_cost.pdf.)."

The cost of dental care has increased significantly in recent years. Total dental expenditures compared to capita *****come has widened the gap considerably until even middle class Americans are having ********** paying for c***** unless *****y have company ***** or privately paid ***** ***** insurance(Dental Care (http://drc.nidcr.nih.gov/report/images/section16-wrkfrce_cost.pdf.).

The National Association of Dental Plans estimated that 56% ***** the U.S. population had dental insurance in 1999(Dental Care (http://drc.nidcr.nih.gov/report/images/section16-wrkfrce_cost.pdf.)."

Several recent studies ***** concluded ***** the ***** of access to dental ***** ***** caused a l*****ck of access to good oral care. The lack ***** insurance ***** a barrier that ***** a neglect of one's ***** and *****. People who live at or near the poverty level, people who are *****ly r*****ired and people ***** work for small companies or are self employed ***** among those who are currently facing serious issues with ***** ability ***** obtain dental coverage for not only themselves but also for their family members(Dental Care (http://drc.nidcr.nih.gov/report/images/section16-wrkfrce_cost.pdf.).

The difference between insurance and no insurance is arguably the single most important factor when it comes to one seeking