108 Million Americans With No Dental Insurance

Unfortunately, the state of dental insurance in America is bleak. Even prior to the economic collapse of recent, more than 108 million Americans(cdc.gov) lacked some form of dental insurance coverage. That’s nearly 1 in 3 Americans unable to receive even basic dental care.

What’s particularly disheartening about the large amount of uninsured Americans, is that study after study has been released in recent years supporting a close connection between oral health and overall health. This means, of course, that large numbers of Americans are falling ill unnecessarily each year all because they’re unable to visit a dentist for what should be routine care.

CBS Dental Insurance Crisis Video

CBS produces a news segment called “The Other America” which highlights stories about the underpriviliged. This segment focused on the dental insurance crisis in America. Have a look.

Fixing the Problem

I’m betting if you were to ask people on the street what their solution were to the dental insurance crisis, they would probably say something along the lines of “Universal Dental Care”. This is evidenced by the election of Barack Obama. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get political here, but I’m adamant that Universal Dental Care is not the answer. Look at Britain. Do a simple Google search for “British Dental Care Problems” or something to that effect and you’ll see that socializing dental care has caused tremendous problems over there.

What do you think?

So, what’s the solution? Honestly, I don’t know. What do you think?