August 2014 marks a new beginning for Missouri. This is the first Oral Health Awareness month in the history of the state. During the 2014 session the Missouri Legislature passed a resolution recognizing August as Oral Health Awareness Month, demonstrating a clear commitment to the importance of oral health.
Thanks to Sen. Wayne Wallingford and Rep. Donna Lichtenegger, both of Southeast Missouri, and members of the Missouri Legislature, all Missourians have an opportunity to become more aware of the importance of oral health this August.
Oral health is essential to overall health. Read that line again. Oral health is essential to overall health.
If you are like most people you think of oral health as a secondary health care issue, something that can be put off for later, or forgotten about altogether. Most people think of attending to oral health along the lines of vacuuming the car when we get an oil change; nice idea, but hardly worth worrying about. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Many research studies have shown that each of us must have good oral health to have good overall health. In a day and age when so many people are careful about what they eat and take the time to regularly exercise, oral health is often overlooked. Actively managing our oral health is essential to our efforts to have long, healthy, active and productive lives. This is particularly true for anyone with a chronic condition such as diabetes or heart disease.
Studies have shown that good management of oral health can lead to greater success in managing chronic physical conditions.
We have a lot of work to do to improve Missouri's oral health. We do not have great access to oral health care in Missouri. In fact, the CDC ranks Missouri near the bottom. We are 47th out of the 50 states, not too far from dead last. In many areas of the state access is particularly poor. Many people do not have an annual dental checkup. It is not uncommon for people on limited incomes to forgo treatment of dental conditions because of lack of access or inability to pay.
The Pew Charitable Trusts gives Missouri a "C" for children's oral health and a "D" for the use of dental sealants. The dental health of many nursing home residents is questionable. Sixty-three percent of Missouri Medicaid-enrolled children received no dental care.
Not getting routine dental care is a recipe for lost school and work time, pain and higher costs. Missourians should know. In 2011 we racked up over $17.6 million in emergency room visits for dental conditions.
Painful untreated dental conditions mean visits to the emergency room, a poor way to get dental care. Emergency rooms provide excellent and often life-saving care, but are not designed to provide dental treatment. Instead, pain of untreated dental conditions is temporarily relieved - at least some pain, at least temporarily. In the meantime the underlying dental condition goes untreated.
One of the best ways to ensure everyone in our community has good oral health is to add fluoride to community water. For over 65 years fluoridation has safely improved the oral health of entire communities throughout the United States and Missouri. It is cited as one of the greatest public health achievements of the last 100 years. While fluoride is routinely added to mouthwash, toothpaste and other products, it is only through community water fluoridation that all members of a community are ensured the benefits of reduced cavities.
Legislative leadership took the prudent step of including $48 million in state and federal funds for the Missouri Medicaid program (MO HealthNet) in the 2015 state budget to help Missouri become a leader in oral health instead of the loss leader we are now. Unfortunately the governor felt he had to put a hold on this and many other budget items out of concern for inadequate state revenue. It is in the interest of all Missourians that we find a way to move this item forward in the near future. We cannot afford to consider oral health a forgettable issue. It will only cost us more in the long run.
This August take time to think about your oral health, how well you manage it and what you need to do to ensure you are completely healthy.
And take time to think about the oral health of your family, friends, neighbors, church members and community. We need to help ourselves and each other to be fully healthy, successful and productive Missourians.