The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday on a survey that indicates that men and women over 60 “lack adequate insurance and cannot afford oral healthcare.” Link to full story:
Older L.A. County adults suffer from inadequate dental care
Dr. Roseann Mulligan, an expert in geriatric dentistry at USC, said she was not surprised to learn that so many older Angelenos were lacking in dental coverage and care.“
They’re on a limited income,” she said. “They have to pick and choose. . . . Dental insurance for seniors is virtually nonexistent, and unless you’re able to pay out of pocket, you frequently don’t get dental care.”
Increasing numbers of seniors and Baby Boomers are heading out of the country for dental and other medical care when they cannot afford it in the U.S. — especially when the work required is major.
Preventative care is key to long-term oral health at any age, according to Telma Rubinstein at Prisma Dental in Costa Rica.
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The Baltimore Sun, in a story today, quotes experts as saying that dental care for seniors is a major issue — one that will only become more acute as the population ages. Many lack insurance coverage, money and specialists, the headline warns.
Many of Prisma’s patients have been older Americans in exactly the situations described by the newspaper article, coming to Costa Rica for high quality dental work they cannot afford at home.
“… About 12 years ago, Carrie Lemon started losing teeth. One by one, to curb pain, Lemon had most of her teeth extracted.
“Today, at 72, she has only six left. Eating has become a daily chore, and Lemon wants desperately to be fitted for a set of dentures. ‘I’ve just been going from one dentist to another, but all of them tell me that our medical system doesn’t cover it,” Lemon said. “I don’t have the money to get them.’ “
According to Dr. Richard H. Price, a spokesman for the American Dental Association, “Twenty-five million adults forgo dental care because they can’t afford it. A goodly amount are seniors.” Read the rest of this entry »
The media in the U.K. recently has been full of stories about the inadequacy of dental care under the National Health System there, as we pointed out on Feb. 28 here. Today, there’s a report about waiting lists from The Scotsman.
“WHEN Caroline Dollemore-Hunt urgently needed a dentist to treat a painful problem with her teeth, she thought the NHS would provide one.
But after being told she is 6,836th on the waiting list merely to be registered with an NHS dentist, she has become resigned to her teeth crumbling and falling out before she can get help …”
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