Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is warning about a growing “dental care crisis” in the U.S., saying his recently introduced legislation to address the problem would expand dental benefits and ultimately save the government money.
“Any objective look at the reality facing the American people recognizes that there is a crisis in dental care in America,” Sanders said. told The Guardian in an interview published Friday. “Imagine this in the richest country in the world.”
Sanders, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, presented a bill last week this would expand Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans Affairs to provide dental care to more Americans. It would also increase the number of dentists and other employees in rural and underserved areas.
He told The Guardian that he has been working on the issue of dental care “for years.”
“It’s an issue that I think tens of millions of Americans are deeply concerned about, but it really hasn’t gotten the media attention it deserves,” he said.
Sanders said he has heard from voters who have been thrown out of work because of missing teeth or who feel like they have to cover their mouths when they laugh.
“Having bad teeth or bad teeth is a sign of poverty,” he said. “It becomes a personal issue, a psychological issue, an economic issue as well.”
During a HELP hearing last week, Sanders said that often when people discuss the health care crisis in America, they ignore dental care.
He said dental care is “very expensive” and many rural Americans don’t have access to a dentist. There is “widespread suffering” that goes unnoticed because the issue is not discussed enough, Sanders said during the hearing.
On a statement announcing the legislationSanders said very few dentists nationwide accept Medicaid and there is a lack of transparency in the prices they charge.
One in five seniors in the United States is missing all of their natural teeth, and more than 40% of children in the United States have cavities before they reach kindergarten, he said.
Nearly 70 million adults and 8 million children don’t have dental insurance, according to Sanders, and many of those who do miss appointments because they can’t afford it or feel their coverage is inadequate.
Sanders noted that spending money on dental care can help free up other funds for Medicare. Treating periodontal disease in people with chronic heart problems saves money, up to $27.8 billion annually.
“Dental care is health care, and health care should be considered a human right, not a privilege,” Sanders said in the statement.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
