<blockquote>May 26, 2000 <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E4D6123DF935A15756C0A9669C8B63&sec=health&pagewanted=print> 'Epidemic of Oral Disease' Is Found in Poor By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Oral diseases, from tooth decay to mouth cancer, threaten the health of poor people, members of minorities, children and the elderly, despite vast improvements in dental care over the past 50 years, according to a study made public today by the surgeon general.
The report, the first comprehensive review of the scientific literature on oral health, found that most Americans who are middle-age or younger can expect to keep their teeth for life, largely because fluoride in the drinking water is helping to prevent cavities.
But the study also documented profound and little-noticed disparities in care that, it said, amount to ''a silent epidemic of oral diseases'' among the nation's most vulnerable citizens.
Socioeconomics, inadequate education, poor overall health and lack of access to dental care all play a part, the study found. While an estimated 44 million Americans lack health insurance, more than 108 million lack dental insurance. Many children in poor neighborhoods never see a dentist, the study found, and elderly people often lose dental insurance when they retire.
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Black men, the study found, have the highest rate of pharyngeal cancers -- cancer of the pharynx, which connects the oral and nasal cavities to the esophagus and larynx -- in the United States, and are less likely to survive than whites.
The percentage of people who had untreated dental cavities was substantially higher among blacks than whites -- about twice as many, according to the report. Blacks are more likely than whites to have missing teeth, and also more likely to have gum disease, the study found.
The disparities were particularly great among children. The study found that more than a third of all poor youngsters ages 2 to 9 had untreated cavities, compared with 17 percent of children who are not poor.
And even children with health insurance often lack proper care; a recent study, cited in the surgeon general's report, found that among children covered by Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor, fewer than 1 in 5 had a preventive dental visit during the previous year.</blockquote>
-- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>