On the Canadian dental care front...

We spend close to $10B annually on dental care, with estimates placing  
the public share anywhere between 4.7% and 5.8%.

The question then becomes: What of those $10B is a 'reasonable public  
good?' Surely, we cannot finance tooth bleaching and porcelain veneers  
(irrespective of the rare cases where someone may require a root canal  
and a porcelain crown due to trauma for example, etc).

As has occurred in the US, there appears to be increasing movements in  
Canada to  discuss oral health and access to care, something which we  
have not done seriously since the mid 1960s, unless of course you take  
the 1970s Lalonde Report as the last nail in the coffin relative to  
publicly financed dental care (i.e., it was easy for the profession  
and governments to point to Lalonde's health field concept and say:  
ha! you see, oral health fully resides in personal responsibility).

Anyhow, so much is the rumbling of social movement, that professional  
organisations are indeed slowly moving towards some level of reform,  
especially with their status as a caring profession now long eroded  
(yet peculiarly strong), and with the new challenges stemming from  
dental hygiene.

So I would argue that now more than ever we need to interact  
positively with whoever in the profession is willing to move some  
level of reform agenda forward.

In dentistry, professional concerns should no longer be a tension  
between public and private roles, but more of a concern of what those  
private and public roles should be.

And by the way, this is one awesome listserv.

Carlos R. Quiñonez, DMD, MSc
Doctoral and Specialty Candidate (Dental Public Health)
Canada Graduate Scholar (Social Science & Humanities Research Council)
Room #521A
Community Dental Health Services Research Unit
Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto
124 Edward Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada  M5G 1G6
(416) 979-4908 extension 4493
[log in to unmask]



Quoting Maija Kagis <[log in to unmask]>:

> Saskatchewan had a wonderful school plan with hygienists doing basic  
>  work, but it was canned by the Conservatives in the 80's under   
> pressure from   dah dah: ...the dental profession. We need to   
> remember some of our history./
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Social Determinants of Health [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
> Diana Liw
> Sent: March 1, 2007 11:57 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [SDOH] For want of a dentist
>
>
> Dental health definitely needs to be part of the universal health   
> care coverage (not just the basic screening, but care and treatment   
> as well).  Dental health not only links to other diseases/adverser   
> health condition, it also correlates to mental health.  Peridontal   
> diseases have also linked to premature births.  Studies have shown   
> that children who have dental health issues (dental caries, bad   
> teeth, tooth ache, and etc) have lower self esteem, and do poorly in  
>  school.  This could apply to employees as well.  Your work   
> performance could be affected if you have dental health problems.
>
> I believe that there is a California-wide school policy (I don't   
> have the exact policy) passed recently that in the near future (with  
>  the year), all children entering pre-school/elementary will need to  
>  have a dental exam.  There are also exemptions for families without  
>  health insurance or have religious or whatever reasons.  But dental  
>  associations are working with the schools so that children who do   
> not have insurance (or dental insurance) could get free exams.
>
>>>> Dave Cundiff <[log in to unmask]> 03/01/07 8:42 AM >>>
> Thanks, Robyn.
>
> In this case, the dental cause of death is pretty clear.  That's unusual.
>
> We now think it's very common for dental disease to contribute to
> other diseases -- especially heart disease.
>
> Even more common, perhaps, and maybe more costly for society, is for a
> patient's untreated dental disease to cost him/her a job opportunity.
> Most employers won't hire people with visibly bad teeth.
>
> Dental care is expensive, but (at least in its basic forms) it is not
> optional.  Should we fund universal basic dental care via a tax on
> caries-promoting food and drink?  It seems like a reasonable idea to me!
>
> Best wishes --
>
> Dave Cundiff, MD, MPH
> Olympia, Washington, USA
>
> ***
>
> Quoting "Kalda, Robyn" <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17372104/
>>
>> WASHINGTON - Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache Sunday.
>> A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him.
>> If his mother had been insured.
>> Story continues below ↓ advertisement
>> If his family had not lost its Medicaid.
>> If Medicaid dentists weren't so hard to find.
>> If his mother hadn't been focused on getting a dentist for his
>> brother, who had six rotted teeth.
>> By the time Deamonte's own aching tooth got any attention, the
>> bacteria from the abscess had spread to his brain, doctors said.
>> After two operations and more than six weeks of hospital care, the
>> Prince George's County boy died.
>> ...
>>
>>
>>
>> Robyn Kalda
>> Health Promotion Information Specialist
>> OPC Health Promotion Resource Centre
>> (416) 408-2249 x2226
>> Direct: (416) 408-6916
>> [log in to unmask] (NEW - please change your address book)
>>
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