America 'is facing an oral health crisis'

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Time Magazine reports on "a perfect storm of public-policy changes" that dentists fear could further worsen the oral health of children and adults across the United States. Proposed cuts to Medicaid would mean that fewer people will be able to access dental care, as federal government staffing cuts target the likes of the prevention division of oral health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Furthermore, states including Florida and Utah have voted to ban the addition of fluoride to drinking water and other states are weighing similar bans. “We are already facing an oral health crisis,” observes Melissa Burroughs, director of public policy for CareQuest. “Medicaid cuts and water fluoridation rollbacks are the two biggest ways in which the oral health crisis is likely to be exacerbated.”


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