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Surgeon General's Press Release on Oral Health - Page 2

© Tracey Ryan

"To ignore oral health problems can lead to needless pain and suffering, complications that can devastate well-being, and financial and social costs that significantly diminish quality of life and burden American society," Shalala said. "Together we can affect the changes we need to maintain and improve oral health for all Americans and remove known barriers that stand between people and oral health services."

Satcher noted that major barriers to oral health include socioeconomic factors, such as lack of dental insurance or the inability to pay out of pocket, or problems of access that involve transportation and the need to take time off from work for health needs. While 44 million Americans lack medical insurance, about 108 million lack dental insurance. Only 60 percent of baby boomers receive dental insurance through their employers, and most older workers lose their dental insurance at retirement.

Meanwhile, uninsured children are 2.5 times less likely to receive dental care than insured children, and children from families without dental insurance are 3 times as likely to have dental needs as compared to their insured peers.

Living in a community that lacks a fluoridated water supply may also exacerbate oral health problems, and people with disabilities and complex health problems may face additional stumbling blocks, Satcher said. A major barrier to seeking and obtaining professional help is a general lack of public understanding and awareness of the importance of oral health.

Oral diseases and craniofacial disorders are linked to total health and well-being throughout life. Oral problems may include dental caries or tooth decay and periodontal or gum disease, oral infections such as cold sores that occur at any stage of life, as well as birth defects in infancy and the chronic facial pain conditions and oral cancers seen in later years.

"Serious oral disorders may undermine self-image and self-esteem, discourage normal social interaction, and lead to chronic stress and depression as well as incurring great financial cost," Satcher said. "They also may interfere with vital functions such as breathing, eating, swallowing and speaking. The burden of disease restricts activities in school, work, and home, and often significantly diminishes the quality of life."

The report reiterates that general health risk factors, such as tobacco use and poor dietary practices, also affect oral and craniofacial health. The evidence for an association between tobacco use and oral diseases has been clearly delineated in virtually every Surgeon General's report on tobacco since 1964, and the oral effects of nutrition and diet are presented in the Surgeon General's report on nutrition. Moreover, recent research findings have pointed to possible associations between chronic oral infections and diabetes, heart and lung disease, stroke and low-birth-weight premature births. The report assesses these emerging associations and explores possible mechanisms that may underlie these oral-systemic disease connections.

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