Studies have linked oral hygiene to overall health, yet in many places there are gaps in dental care. In West Virginia, a task force of dentists says the state must take action to address an "oral health care crisis," reports The Charleston Gazette. Similar calls are coming from Kentucky, which competes with West Virginia for the dubious distinction of the state with the poorest oral health.
The West Virginia Dental Association says up to 40 percent of the state's children never see a dentist, the Gazette reports. “We see rampant decay,” Dr. Carol Buffington, a member of the task force, told reporter Eric Eyre. “We are in an oral health-care crisis in the state of West Virginia.”
The group recommends that the state legislature require kindergarten students, second-graders and sixth-graders to show proof that dentists have examined them. The group also wants Medicaid expanded to cover low-income adults beyond emergency dental procedures and to increase reimbursements to dentists. To pay for this, the group recommends increasing the state soft-drink tax. (Read more) The Kentucky Dental Association, which has long tried to get a sponsor for legislation requiring a dental exam for enrollment in kindergarten, has secured one.
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