Poor dental health has been associated with increased risks of oral, esophageal, and gastric cancer

[MelissaB]

Specifically, she was talking about the plaque they clean off of our teeth. I had no idea! I've been slack in going to the dentist, but never again if I can afford it.

I just got of the phone with my dentist office. I had called to pay a bill by phone and was asking questions about insurance and we were chatting about insurance and she mentioned this. I googled while on the phone with her. She was just as pissed at our poor insurance as I was and was saying things won't change until the public demands it. We have Humana dental insurance and she was telling me how piss poor they are. They pay something like 19 dollars for pulling a tooth and can come back up to 18 months later and take that back and then the office has to try to collect payment from the customer. Crazy!

What do we need? Health care for all. When do we need it? Now!

Background: Poor dental health has been associated with increased risks of oral, esophageal, and gastric cancer and may also be associated with pancreatic cancer. In addition, Helicobacter pylori has been found in dental plaque and has been associated with periodontal disease and pancreatic cancer.

http://www.ajcn.org/content/78/1/176.full

"Our study provides the first strong evidence that periodontal disease may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer," said Dr Dominique Michaud of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, who led the research.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/60995.php

[tridim]

1. In the mean time, get some of those plastic toothpick/floss thingies.

I basically do a full dental cleaning every day. It works really well if you can't afford the dentist.

[MelissaB]

3. I've been doing this on a regular basis since we moved to west Texas.

The first time I went to the dentist here I had 5 cavities. We have an RO system that filters everything out of the water so that we can even stand to drink it. The entire family now uses the prescription toothpaste as well. It ain't cheap.

[MelissaB]

2. Specifically, she was talking about the plaque the clean off of our teeth.

[xchrom]

4. du rec. nt

[WI_DEM]

5. This is another reason why more dentists should treat those with no insurance

and no way to pay, by offering uncompensated care/or medical assistance--lack of good dental care can lead to greater health risks.

[ashling]

6. My teeth are in poor shape

When the kids were growing up our philosophy was the kids teeth come first. I've got a bad toothache and deteriorated filling, etc. Guess who lent us the money so we could get med stuff done this month: my daughter.