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A few years ago tabloids raged about long queues to obtain a place with an National Health Service (NHS) dentist and ran scare stories on the DIY treatment people were inflicting on themselves. However, figures released in March from The Health and Social care Information Centre show a minor improvement to the number of patients now seen by NHS dentists – up 0.7% over the previous 24 months; now at 55.1% of the population.

This can be attributed to changes introduced by the last government, which included the 2006 reforms aimed at improving patient access to NHS dentistry services and simplifying payment for dental treatment. Primary care trusts (PCTs) were also put in charge of commissioning local dental services and deciding where to locate new services. The independent Steele review, published in June 2009, then sought to ensure widespread changes were made to NHS dental contracts in order to increase access to dental services and improve service quality.

However, this year’s change of government and the announcement of budget cuts have raised doubts over the direction of dental policy. A key concern for the industry is that PCTs will be free to allocate funds anywhere they like.

Morag Peterson, product manager at Cigna Healthcare, says: “It is possible dentistry will take a lower priority when it comes to how they allocate that money. The new government is going to take little control and it is going to be up to the PCTs, so it is going to vary by postcodes as to how that money is spent.”

Product design

All these changes could impact on the dental benefits market, particularly in terms of product design. James Glover, corporate sales and marketing director at Simplyhealth, says: “There is a state of anticipation, of waiting to find out what exactly the changes are going to be, if any, how the market should respond to that, and how, as a consequence, employee benefits geared towards accessing dental treatment should be designed.”

The changes may result in more dentists choosing to go private, further limiting access to NHS dental services. This could lead to an increase in the number of employers offering dental benefits to staff. Chuck Misasi, senior vice president at dental network provider Munroe Sutton, says: “The trend is going to be that employers will continue to seek out dental benefits – cash plans and insurances – because more and more people are having trouble finding an NHS dentist.”

There are two main types of dental benefit that employers can offer their staff: dental cover within a health cash plan and dental insurance. The former provides money back on everyday dental bills up to an annual limit, while dental insurance offers more comprehensive cover.

At their most basic level, all dental benefits include routine check-ups and treatment, accident and injury cover, and cover accessing NHS and private treatment. These basics are typically subject to a fixed annual monetary limit, which will vary depending on the type of plan offered.

Over the past few years, the dental benefits market has been relatively flat. Pam Whelan, corporate sales manager at Denplan, says: “The awareness and appreciation of what a dental plan brings to a benefits package has not diminished. Employers that were looking to implement a scheme may have pushed it back, but nobody has been turned off from moving forward with plans that had already been made. It is not recession-proof but, equally, we have not seen as big an impact on the business as previously anticipated.”

Lara Rendell, marketing manager at Health Shield, agrees that dental plans are still popular. “There has been an increase in the call to employers to look after staff and their health and wellbeing,” she says. “They have always been keen to provide dental as a benefit, but, if anything, I think there has been an increase in them wanting to help employees through these difficult times.”

Improved morale

In Simplyhealth’s Annual dental research, published in March 2010, 67% of respondents said dental benefits improved staff morale and 66% said they reduced sickness absence. A further 74% said it was the responsibility of the organisation to look after its workforce’s oral health.

Being seen to care about employees’ wellbeing by offering dental perks can also help an employer become an employer of choice. Cigna’s Peterson says: “Employees’ needs are going to increase, so it is going to be seen as more of a recruitment and retention benefit. People are going to be struggling to get the dental care they need, and there is an opportunity here for the employer to meet that need.”

To help meet this demand, providers have continued to bring new products to market. For example, in April, Bupa launched a new flexible dental plan offering five benefit levels. Premiums start at pound 3.51 a month.

Cost remains an issue for many employers in the current economic climate. Offering dental benefits through health cash plans is a popular choice because of the ease of implementation and the low cost.

Dental cover can also be included in private medical insurance (PMI) schemes, although this can be more expensive. Denplan’s Whelan says: “Employers recognise that dental is an integral part of employee wellbeing and complements the existing PMI offering. Typically, an organisation that is committed to improving employee wellbeing will look at providing dental benefits in addition to PMI.”

The trend of offering dental through flexible benefits is still gaining popularity among employers as they recognise it as a way to offer dental benefits in a difficult economic climate while controlling the cost to the organisation.

According to Michelle Bishop, business development manager at National Dental Plan, employers that are planning to roll out such schemes typically have a long-term focus. “In some cases, you will have people opt for voluntary arrangements in the first place, in order to prepare to go into a flexible benefits arrangement, so they can provide the benefit as soon as possible,” she says.

Focus on facts

What are dental benefits?

Dental benefits allow employees to claim back part, or all, of the cost of dental treatment. They can be provided through a health cash plan or as an insurance product. The level of cover can vary, ranging from accident and emergency treatment to treatment for cancer.

What are the origins?

Dental insurance products first appeared in the UK during the 1980s. However, these were preceded by dental cover made available though a health cash plan.

Where can employers get more information and advice?

View articles on health benefits: employeebenefits.co.uk/benefits/healthcare-wellbeing.html

Nuts and bolts

What are the costs involved?

Costs vary depending on the level of cover required, the way a scheme is funded and the number of employees covered. Accident and emergency dental cover can cost from pound 3 a month per employee. The average cost of dental insurance is approximately pound 10 to pound 15 a month per employee.

What are the legal implications?

There are no legal implications in offering staff dental perks.

What are the tax implications?

Dental perks are classed as a benefit in kind, so staff are liable for tax and national insurance.

In practice

What is the annual spend?

According to Laing and Buisson, the spend on employer-paid dental insurance in 2009 was pound 42.3m. The total dental insurance market is worth pound 75.9m.

Which providers have the biggest market share?

Market commentators say Denplan and Cigna Healthcare are dominant players. Other providers include: Aviva, Axa PPP Healthcare, BHSF, Bupa, Cigna Healthcare, Dencover, Denplan, Health Shield, HSF, Medicash, Munroe Sutton, National Dental Plan, National Friendly, Simplyhealth, Standard Life, Westfield Health and WPA.

Which have increased their share?

There are no figures available, but Simplyhealth continues to increase its presence in the market.

When she finally got in to see one, she needed a root canal. And fillings for 15 cavities.

“Dentally speaking, I am healthy now,” says Pence, who lives in Lansdowne and has been making monthly visits to the University of Pennsylvania’s dental clinic for almost a year. “But I still have seven more [cavities] to go.”

Pence is one of the estimated 132 million people in the United States without any sort of dental insurance. It’s an endemic problem among the unemployed, the poorly paid, and those without medical insurance.

While the national health-care act passed in spring will increase the number of people eligible for medical insurance, its effects on dental will be mixed.

The law increases coverage for children, and will eventually cover more adults under Medicaid, the joint state-federal health plan for the poor. But adult dental services are often hard to find: Less than one-third of dentists in Pennsylvania and New Jersey participate in Medicaid.

Many people don’t see the value in preventive dental care — or they dread it — and postpone routine checkups. That is, until it becomes too painful to chew or a front tooth is chipped.

In Philadelphia, geriatric dentist Ann Slaughter says many elderly patients she has examined at inner-city senior centers haven’t seen a dentist for up to 15 years.

But “oral health is intimately connected to overall health,” she says.

Periodontal disease can cause or worsen heart conditions, strokes, and respiratory illness.

It can be perilous for diabetics. Germs from gum disease can make them more prone to complications, says Slaughter, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and a member of the city Board of Health.

More than 200 diseases of the mouth can also cause problems elsewhere in the body. The plaque on teeth can travel into the blood and contribute to hardened arteries, a risk for heart attack.

In 2000, Surgeon General David Satcher called dental and oral diseases a “silent epidemic” facing the nation.

“We’re in 2010, and we haven’t made many advances,” Slaughter notes. “That’s the sad part.”

One problem is the many gaps in dental insurance, which unlike medical insurance, was never intended to completely cover anything.

For those without insurance, the median price for a root canal in Philadelphia is $862, according to a survey that dentists use to price procedures. A crown can cost as much as $1,200.

And while 172 million Americans under 65 have private health insurance, just 45 million of them have any sort of dental plan, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

In Pennsylvania, 40 percent of the entire population of adults and children lacks dental insurance, according to the Pennsylvania Dental Association.

Medicare has substantial holes as well. It covers health care for virtually all seniors and some younger people with permanent disabilities. But it doesn’t pay for routine dental care.

When people turn 65, says Slaughter, “those with disposable incomes pay out of pocket or they keep their dental insurance.”

Medicare does cover dental procedures that are connected to a larger medical issue. A surgeon won’t perform an open-heart operation on a patient who has a mouth abscess, for example, until a dentist has treated the problem.

Medicaid poses its own challenges. There are 508,000 recipients in Philadelphia, but many of the adults aren’t eligible for dental because they aren’t permanently disabled or fail to meet other criteria.

Those who are eligible can have a hard time finding a dentist.

“Just because you have insurance doesn’t mean you have access,” says Laval Miller-Wilson, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project.

Pennsylvania has some of the lowest reimbursement rates in the country, according to a recent report by the Pew Center on the States. Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program reimbursed dentists 53 percent of what they customarily charge. The national average for Medicaid is 60.5 percent.

New Jersey had among the nation’s lowest reimbursement rates until recently, but now pays 103 percent of the customary fee, according to the Pew Center, which nevertheless gave the state an F on its dental report card due to other limitations of coverage for the poor. (Pennsylvania also got an F.)

Miller-Wilson says some dentists’ aversion to Medicaid is about more than money. The paperwork is cumbersome. And broken and late appointments are common among the poor.

Instead of accepting Medicaid, “many dentists say they would rather treat patients during free clinics or pro bono,” says Rob Pugliese, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Dental Association.

Lack of increased funding for Medicaid dental services is a major reason the American Dental Association opposed the health-care bill.

In 2014, when the new law enables millions more Americans to join Medicaid, many advocates wonder if there will be longer lines to see dentists as well as doctors.

“The health-coverage bill is going to exacerbate the current supply problem,” says Miller-Wilson, adding that the state of dental care now may foreshadow what is to come.

Many advocates point to the 2007 death of 12-year-old Deamonte Driver in Prince George’s County, Md., as the impetus for Congress to make sure that dental was included in the basic benefits package for children on Medicaid.

Driver died from a bacterial infection caused by an abscess in his mouth. His mother had been unable to find a dentist who would accept his Medicaid.

Philadelphia’s Slaughter wonders whether “it will take another catastrophe like Driver’s to get policy makers’ attention.”

Even if coverage is broadened, other issues remain.

Pence, the woman with 15 cavities, is in many ways typical of her generation. She was cut off from her father’s health and dental insurance when she turned 18. She ignored her teeth for several years as she worked part time.

Last September, the pain became overwhelming. Following her aunt’s advice, she went to Penn’s dental clinic to get treated at a reduced rate.

In March, she started working a full-time job with benefits. She can now afford yet another fix: the skin graft she needs at the base of her bottom front teeth. Her tongue piercing had worn down the gums so much that “you can see the roots of my teeth,” Pence says.

She has since removed the piercing. She promises to see her dentist regularly in the future.

Reduced-Fee Dental Clinics in Region

Donated Dental Services

717-238-8721

www.nfdh.org (Locations throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania)

Philadelphia

City health centers

Seven of the clinics offer dental services. Call 215-686-1776 for locations, or go to www.phila.gov/health/Services/Serv_DentalCare.html

(Medicaid accepted)

Afton Family Dental PC

215-462-6229

Fairmount Primary Care

Center

215-684-5349

www.dvch.org

Maria de los Santos Health Center

215-291-2509

www.dvch.org

(Medicaid accepted)

Frankford Avenue/Hunting Park/Snyder Dental/Wilson Park Medical Centers

215-229-1390

www.gphainc.org

(Medicaid accepted)

Vaux Family Health Center

215-236-8289

www.qchc.org

(Medicaid accepted)

QCHC Family Health Center

215-227-0300

www.qchc.org

(Medicaid accepted)

University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine Dental Clinic

215-898-8965

www.dental.upenn.edu

(Medicaid accepted)

Ronald McDonald Care Mobile

215-427-8877

(Free for qualified children; Medicaid accepted)

Clinic of Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry

215-707-2900

www.temple.edu/dentistry

(Senior citizen discount; Medicaid accepted)

Bucks County

Bucks County Health Improvement Project

1-800-347-6803 (Free for qualified children)

Ann Silverman Community Health Clinic

215-345-2410

HealthLink Medical Center

215-364-4247

www.healthlinkmedical.org

Chester County

Community Volunteers in Medicine

610-836-5990

www.cvim.org

(Free)

The Children’s Dental Clinic

610-240-1213

Delaware County

ChesPenn Health Services

610-874-6231; 610-497-2900

Montgomery County

Manor Dental Health Center

215-887-7617

www.manor.edu

Greater North Penn Dental Initiative

1-877-466-7764

(Medicaid accepted)

Norristown Regional Health

Center

610-278-7787

www.dvch.org

(Medicaid accepted)

The Abram and Goldie Cohen Dental Programs Center

610-526-6015

www.harcum.edu

(Medicaid accepted)

Camden County

Camden County College, Dental Hygiene Clinic

856-374-4930

CamCare Health Corporation — East

856-635-0307

(Medicaid accepted)

CamCare Health Corporation — Gateway Center

856-963-8768

(Medicaid accepted)

CamCare Health Corporation — Clementon

856-627-7701

(Medicaid accepted)

UMDNJ — Somerdale

856-566-6969

(Medicaid accepted)

Virtua Dental Health Center

856-246-3545

(Medicaid accepted)

SOURCES: Pennsylvania and New Jersey dental associations

Contact staff writer Brooke Minters at 215-854-2244 or bminters@phillynews.com.

Credit: The Philadelphia Inquirer

Instead, the reader bought into a discount network and saved about $800 after purchasing an individual membership for $100 a year. The waiting period before her benefits kicked in? Three days.

It’s called a discount dental plan and it’s similar to buying a membership at Costco or Sam’s Club. For the price of your annual membership, you get the benefit of paying lower prices on the products or services offered.

The dentists who participate in the program agree to accept a discounted fee from the plan as payment in full for their services. For example, a white filling is typically $173, but discount plan members pay $51 to $116, depending on the plan. A crown is typically $1,200, but members pay $473 to $1,000.

Annual membership fees range from $80 to $160 for an individual and $130 to $200 for a family.

One of the best ways to shop for a plan is at www.dentalplans.com. It has aggregated plans from more than 30 companies, including Aetna and Cigna. After putting in a ZIP code, you can find dentists in your area who accept the plans and what the discounted rates are for fillings, crowns, root canals and dentures.

Most people have never heard of the discount plans, probably because nearly 70 percent of Minnesotans have dental insurance, said Loren Hanson, director of marketplace activities at the Minnesota Dental Association in Minneapolis.

But even those with insurance might want to consider a dental plan if they have some unexpected big bills. Dental insurance typically has a maximum benefit per year of $1,000 to $1,200. Anyone who has already met the annual maximum and develops a new toothache is unlikely to wait until January to get it fixed.

Hanson said the MDA has had few complaints about the discount dental plans but says many patients will find that their dentist doesn’t offer the discounts. About 10 percent of dentists in the Twin Cities offer them, he said.

Dental plans have a 30-day cancellation policy and no waiting periods, deductibles or maximums. Orthodontia and cosmetic procedures are included in some plans. DentalPlans.com is offering a 10 percent discount with the code “July10,” but when I called several months ago I was offered a 20 percent discount after I balked about joining. Call 1-888-632-5353 or visit the website.

The global dental implants market is expected to grow from $3.2 billion in 2010 to $4.2 billion in 2015 at a CAGR of 6% from 2010 to 2015. Europe currently forms the world’s largest market for dental implants with a 42% market share, and is also expected to have the highest CAGR, 7.0%, from 2010 to 2015.

While the lack of consumer awareness in developing economies may hinder market growth, industry players still have immense growth opportunities as merely 2% to 3% of the global edentulous population has already received dental implant treatment so far. The aging baby-boomer population in developed nations offers an especially high-growth opportunity, as this consumer segment is characterized by high disposable income, and also by an increased need for dental care due to longer life expectancy.

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Each segment of the report will provide market tables, drivers, restraints and opportunities along with the key players and competitive landscape. This report will also provide more than 35 market tables for various geographic regions covering the sub-segments and micro-markets. In addition, the report provides 30 company profiles for dental implants manufacturers, etc.

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Key Questions Answered:

– Which are the high-growth segments/cash cows and how is the market segmented in terms of materials and procedure?

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Even the recession couldn’t vanquish vanity; steady consumer demand for teeth bleaching, tooth-colored fillings, implants and other cosmetic procedures has kept dentists smiling through today’s tough economic times. It’s also helped keep dental benefits popular and prompted some leading dental insurers to broaden plan coverage to include cosmetic services.

“More and more dentists see cosmetic procedures as a way to increase their revenue,” says Dr. Roma Virani, second vice president, Dental Cost & Utilization at Assurant Employee Benefits. For example, “most practices are doing tooth-colored fillings. It used to be that only a third of the fillings on back teeth were composites. Now that is reversed.

“While some people are concerned about the safety of amalgams,” she continues, “the switch is primarily driven by aesthetics. You get equally good results, so one type is not better than the other. However, people want their fillings to be tooth-colored so they are not as visible.”

Whitening leads the way

By far the most popular cosmetic procedure is teeth whitening. Dental magazines report that the most common conversation dentists have with their patients is about bleaching. Bradley Dykstra, DDS, wrote about the trend in Dental Economics magazine in April.

“The quest of baby boomers to stay forever young and society’s expectations to look our best drives this demand,” he says. “It is important to understand that patients, both male and female, want whiter teeth – period.”

Until a few years ago, bleaching was not covered by dental benefit plans. This changed when a handful of dental plan providers heeded requests from brokers and employers for voluntary insurance products that would offset the cost of cosmetic dental procedures for employees.

“All insurers in this industry are always looking for something new and different for brokers to sell,” says Kevin Martin, dental product development leader at Sun Life Financial. “Cosmetic was something the industry shied away from because it was not necessary care. Sun Life came up with the thought that since people want nice, shiny teeth, wouldn’t it be nice to offer a benefit that covers some, but not all, of the cost. I guess covering cosmetic was our iPod.”

Sun Life offers two cosmetic dental riders to its insurance plan. One covers teeth whitening done in the dental office or at home with products provided by the dentist. The other includes veneers as well as whitening.

The cost of the riders is based on the annual maximum selected and adds 3% to 6% to the standard dental insurance premium.

“It’s all about the smile,” maintains Paul Sherman, vice president and national sales director for American General Benefits Solutions, which began covering cosmetic procedures under its voluntary “Smile Maker” benefit plan two years ago.

Smile Maker currently covers teeth whitening and implants and will soon be expanded to include implants and composite fillings, according to dental product manager Sadia Zoppi. “It works like a lifetime orthodontia benefit for each family member,” she says. “About 2% of our business has this feature, but we anticipate that it will increase as more plan sponsors ask employees to contribute to the cost of their dental plan.”

The Smile Maker add-on is $8 per month for an individual and $32 per month for a family. “That can be a substantial increase in cost on a lower-priced dental plan that’s, say, $50,” notes Zoppi.

These products are expensive in nature, says so you’d expect this, says Zoppi. “But they are still very attractive, and they are meeting a need. There is a growing demand for these services.”

According to AACD, the mean amount spent by the average patient in 2006, the last year for which data is available, was $5,640 and the median was $3,860. At the high end, 3% of practices indicated an average amount spent per patient of $20,000 or more.

At the other extreme, 2% of practices reported average patient costs of less than $500. The most often indicated categories were $5,000-$9,999 (23%) and $2,500-$4,999 (22%).

Assurant Employee Benefits also was one of the first to cover teeth bleaching. Some of its plans also include posterior composites and porcelain crowns on posterior teeth, which it considers restorative rather than cosmetic.

“Going along with these trends, Assurant has come out with products that will take employees’ benefits farther,” says Virani. “We have Family Share Max and Preventive Max Waiver products that give more benefit dollars to plan members for these services. With the Preventive Max Waiver, preventive work does not count toward the annual maximum, so more dollars are available for non-preventive services.

“This supports our belief that if patients are getting preventive work done, they’ll need less restorative work in the future.”

Guardian broke new ground in 2004 when it extended coverage to implants. The company also offers coverage for whitening, posterior composites, porcelain inlays and onlays, and porcelain crowns and veneers.

“We take a lot of pride in customizing our plan designs to meet brokers’ and plan holders’ price points,” says Dr. Richard Goren, second vice president of Guardian’s group dental unit.

“There are hundreds of options. No one offers everything that we do.”

Brighter smiles, better health

Dentists view cosmetic dentistry not only as a means to increase revenue, but also as an important way to improve Americans’ oral health.

“If I want to whiten my smile, the dentist is going to talk about restorative needs before doing cosmetic work,” says Goren. “The motivation for a bright smile and white teeth is coming from the individual patients, and the drive for overall care is coming from the dentists.”

Like bleaching and tooth-colored fillings, implants improve patients’ appearance and promote self-esteem. But they also can help prevent problems down the road, Goren notes. “Bridge work involves shaving the tooth and cementing the bridge on top of it. When that happens, the tooth is never as good as when it was healthy. With an implant, no one is contributing to a tooth’s demise.”

Dermal filler next?

Dermal filler therapy may be a natural progression of where the cosmetic dental industry is heading, according to Goren. “With proper training, these procedures are easy for dentists to accomplish. Patients are motivated to accept these therapies and excited about having them done under local dental anesthesia, making dentists the health care professionals of choice to deliver these procedures.”

Whether dental plan providers will push the cosmetic coverage envelope to cover dermal filler therapy remains to be seen. Meanwhile, however, a new national movement is underway among dentists that could spark discussions about including cosmetic procedures as part of basic dental plans.

The dental industry has been lobbying across the country for states to prohibit insurers from negotiating discounts on services that are not covered.

Because there is a great deal of discounting on cosmetic procedures, this trend is significant, according to Evelyn Ireland, executive director of the National Association of Dental Plans in Dallas.

“The dentists feel that they are in an unequal, negative position,” she says. “Their position is if a carrier won’t pay toward a service, they shouldn’t be required to discount it.”

“The no-discounts on non-covered services legislation is not very consumer friendly,” says Virani. “If a service that is cosmetic in nature is not covered, the dentist will have better luck convincing the patient to have it done if it can be provided at a discount. Discounts are the cornerstone of PPO products, so this is changing things quite a bit.”

“Carriers aren’t happy [with these regulations] because employees are losing out on discounts,” agrees Martin. “It is possible that we’ll see a resurgence of requests for coverage for cosmetic services because then we could offer a discounted fee if that’s requested.”

Discounted or not, there’s no doubt that patients will continue to request cosmetic procedures and dentists will continue to expand the scope of these services.

“It’s a nice time to be a dentist when you have patients who are smiling, looking good and you know they have a healthy mouth,” says Guardian’s Goren. “It’s a stark contrast to getting feedback that it hurts and they don’t like anything you can do for them.”

By the numbers

In 2007, the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry put the market for cosmetic dental procedures at $2.75 billion, based on a 2006 survey of its members. Of that, $138.8 million was for bleaching and whitening, $383 million was for posterior composites, or rear fillings, and $144.3 million was for implants. The total number of patients seeking cosmetic services was estimated at 2.69 million, which represented a 12.8% increase over 2005. Furthermore, the survey respondents expected another 11% increase in patients and revenue in 2007.

Credit: By Lynn Gresham

Kathryn Weaver, PhD, MPH, of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem led a team that examined the prevalence of forgoing care due to financial concerns. They sought todetermine whether cancer history and race or ethnicity were associated with individuals’ likelihood to go without care. The investigators analyzed information from the annual US National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), an in person, nationwide survey of approximately 30,000 to 40,000 households in the civilian, non-institutionalized population that is used to track trends in illness and disability in the United States. Data from 6,602 adult cancer survivors and 104,364 individuals with no history of cancer who were surveyed in the 2003 to 2006 NHIS were included in the study.

Disparities among cancer survivors were largely reflective of those in the general adult population. Among cancer survivors, the  prevalence of forgoing care in the past year due to cost was 7.8 percent for medical care, 9.9 percent for prescription medications, 11.3 percent for dental care, and 2.7 percent for mental health care. Cancer survivors under the age of 65 years were 55 percent more likely to delay or forgo all types of medical care than their same age peers without a history of cancer. “This is important because cancer survivors have many medical needs that persist for years after their diagnosis and treatment,” said Dr. Weaver. Hispanic and black cancer survivors were more likely to go without prescription medications and dental care than white survivors.

This analysis revealed that 18 percent of US cancer survivors, which would mean an estimated more than two million individuals, did not get one or more needed medical services because of financial concerns. “Future research needs to examine the impact of forgoing care on survivors’ quality of life and survival,” the authors concluded. Dr. Weaver noted that it will also be interesting to observe how recent health care reform efforts might impact access to care for cancer survivors.

Baby teeth are vulnerable to tooth decay from their very first appearance, on average between the ages of six and 12 months. Pediatric dentists specialize in caring for these tiny teeth, imperative for proper speech development and nutrition. The specialized care offered by a pediatric dentist includes unique strategies for working with children that alleviate fear and anxiety through the use of positive reinforcement and behavior guidance. Pediatric dentists monitor babies’ growth and development and provide essential dentistry services including tooth cleaning, polishing and fluoride treatment.

For healthy smiles, dental care must be established in – and out – of the pediatric dentist’s chair. The AAPD recommends the following at-home methods for infant oral health care:

Clean infant mouths and gums regularly with a soft infant toothbrush or cloth and water.

Children older than six months need fluoride supplements if their drinking water does not contain enough fluoride. Fluoride supplementation in infants has been shown to reduce tooth decay by as much as 50 percent. Check with your pediatric dentist first.

Babies should be weaned from the bottle by 12-14 months of age and at will breast-feeding should be discouraged.

Baby teeth should be brushed at least twice a day with a toothbrush made for small children using a “smear” of fluoridated toothpaste.

Visit www.aapd.org for more information or to locate a pediatric dentist.

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry

Founded in 1947, the AAPD is a not-for-profit membership organization representing the specialty of pediatric dentistry. AAPD’s 7,600 members are predominately pediatric dentists and primary care providers who deliver comprehensive specialty treatments for infants, children, adolescents and individuals with special health care needs. As advocates for children’s oral health, the AAPD aims to promote the use of evidence-based policies and guidelines, foster research concerning pediatric oral health, and educate health care providers and the public to improve children’s oral health. For further information, please visit the AAPD Web site at http://www.aapd.org.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/childreninternational/44544/

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100609/MM17262 )

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100609/MM17262 )

CPX Interactive executives, feeling compelled to make a difference to poor children, encouraged their colleagues to join them in funding the construction of the B.U.D.S. Community Center, where over 5,000 children will receive medical and dental care, educational support and nutrition education.

Children International’s President and CEO Jim Cook said, “We are grateful to CPX Interactive for their passion and dedication to helping children living in crushing poverty. Their support is an excellent example of being a responsible corporate citizen.”

An effective model for community development, the new center marks the sixth Children International center in Guayaquil that serves poor children and their families from marginal areas of the city. The center will provide benefits to poor families who often live on less than a dollar a day and reside in makeshift shacks with dirt floors on the outskirts of a major metropolitan area.

Children International has been working in Ecuador since 1988 and currently serves 55,000 children in cities of Guayaquil and Quito.

About Children International:

Established in 1936, Children International is a humanitarian organization with its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Children International’s programs benefit more than 335,000 children and their families in 11 countries around the world including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Zambia, Honduras, India, the Philippines and the United States. For more information about Children International or to sponsor a child, visit www.children.org.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Dolores Quinn Kitchin

Public Relations

Children International

Direct: (816) 943-3730

Cell: (816) 718-0711

Email: dkitchin@children.org

https://twitter.com/ci_doloresk

SOURCE Children International

“However, to what extent schools are able to do this is unclear. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate opportunities and challenges to promoting oral health in primary schools. A purposive sample of 20 primary schools from socially and economically disadvantaged areas of Cardiff, UK were selected to participate in this qualitative study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with head teachers or their nominated deputies. General awareness of health and oral health was good, with all schools promoting the consumption of fruit, water and milk and discouraging products such as carbonated drinks and confectionaries. Health promotion schemes were implemented primarily to improve the health of the children, although schools felt they also offered the potential to improve classroom behaviour and attendance. However, oral health was viewed as a separate entity to general health and perceived to be inadequately promoted. Successful health promotion schemes were also influenced by the attitudes of headteachers. Most schools had no or limited links with local dental services and, or oral health educators, although such input, when it occurred, was welcomed and highly valued. Knowledge of how to handle dental emergencies was limited and only two schools operated toothbrushing schemes, although all expressed an interest in such programmes. This study identified a positive predisposition to promoting health in primary schools. The challenge for the dental team, however, is to promote and integrate oral health into mainstream health promotion activities in schools,” wrote P. Gill and colleagues, University of Glamorgan.