The beginning of a new school year is an appropriate time to reevaluate our children’s oral health habits and routines. These should include daily brushing and flossing and regular dental office visits. Dental caries (tooth decay) is the most prevalent childhood chronic disease. Untreated dental caries and other dental disorders can impact our children’s physical, social and emotional wellbeing and can contribute to health costs and classroom time loss. Monitoring our children’s oral health takes diligence and persistence but helping them form consistent oral self-care habits and addressing any dental issues as they are detected can help them have smiles lasting a lifetime.
Having a dental home, both for ourselves and our children, is a critical element of improving and maintaining oral and overall health. A challenge for many Americans is that there is a national shortage of oral health professionals. A 2022 report whose contributors included the American Dental Association. the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and the American Dental Assistants Association documented serious workforce shortages, including that a large percentage of dental assistants (33.7%) and dental hygienists (31.4%) were expecting to retire in the next few years. The national scarcity of dentists and auxiliary oral health professionals is most painfully experienced in rural and underserved regions. The Health Resources & Services Administration says there are 60 million people in 7,029 Health Professional Shortage Areas that need 10,215 oral health practitioners. Nationally and regionally, Delta Dental members companies devote significant resources to counter those shortages.
Nationally, since its launch in 2023, the Delta Dental Future Workforce Fund has dedicated itself to advancing the future of the oral health workforce each year by investing up to $1 million in comprehensive solutions, innovative pilots and scalable models that encourage school-aged children from a variety of experiences and backgrounds to pursue a career in oral health. In 2023, the fund awarded grants totaling $725,000 to four programs; in 2024, six programs received grants totaling $980,000.
In the tri-state region (Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont) Northeast Delta Dental and our Foundation make increasing access to dental care, one facet of which is addressing workforce shortages, a high priority, Our funding areas include awarding grants to programs that train dentists, dental hygienists and dental assihttps://www.nedelta.com/foundation/
stants. We’ve also increased the availability of dentists to treat Medicaid patients by funding loan repayment programs.
Let’s start the new school year giving some thought to achieving and preserving oral health now and planning for a future of happy smiles.
