After considering recent reports from various free dental clinics held in multiple cities within the US and Canada, a number of facts regarding the dental health conditions in these cities, and especially their underprivileged inhabitants, are now apparent. The clinics themselves were state/private funded campaigns to help those who don’t qualify for social assistance but can’t exactly pay for regular dental care either. The dental professionals in these clinics helped multiple citizens with teeth removals, cleaning, suggestions, and diagnosis, free of charge. In the process, however, the following three prime reasons that are contributing towards the deteriorating dental health in American and Canadian cities were discovered.
The Economy
One of the leading problems that are hindering general dental health in the US and Canada is the poverty levels of a vast number of citizens. We are not only talking about the homeless population here but also about the low-income groups who cannot afford dental care because they need their money for more immediate and important needs like food and shelter. In fact, in the entire province of Alberta in Canada, the cost for dental care is higher than anywhere else. The steep and somewhat unjust dental costs in some sections of the two nations, coupled with the generally poor economy of the patients, is contributing more towards bad oral health in more people every year.
Lack of Fluoride
We know how fluoride works and are aware that it helps to prevent tooth decay. Unfortunately, in some cities like Calgary where fluoride is no longer added to the city’s water supplies, it was found that the rate of tooth decay and other dental issues were way too high and still rising at an alarming rate, as compared to regions where fluoride is still added to the drinking water. Although this affects adults, too, the lack of fluoride in drinking water is clearly having the worst effect on the children’s teeth in these localities. Kids are more likely to eat sugary food than adults and with the protection offered by fluoride out of the equation, tooth decay is almost inevitable in a lot of the cases; which brings us to our next point.
Processed and Sugar-rich Foods
As mentioned in the previous point, increased consumption of processed foods, particularly those that are rich in sugar is leading to tooth decay in all sections of the US and Canada. However, children are more susceptible to the damage because of undeveloped teeth and their natural affinity towards sweets. The condition is made further worse by a lack of oral hygiene and lack of fluoride in the water supply of certain cities. Junk food is cheaper and more affordable than healthy food, while necessary dental checkups and treatments are out of the reach of a large section of the society; this is a vicious cycle for the poor and unfortunate.
With even the basic protection of fluoride disappearing from the water supplies in some places, the government needs to take steps to ensure the availability of minimum dental care for everyone.
