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A national poll conducted by the nonprofit group Research!America, assessed public attitudes on oral health and found that 85 percent of Americans indicated their oral health was very important to their general health. The same poll found that lack of insurance is the primary reason people hadn't visited the dentist in the past 12 months.
When employees and their families gain access to services that prevent or fix dental problems before time-consuming remedies are required, they need to spend less time at the dentist. It is estimated that 20.5 million workdays are lost annually to oral health problems.
When you consider the links between oral health and general health, dental benefits might even help employees stay healthier and on the job - especially important when leaner workforces call for peak productivity.
In the past few years, the mouth's central role in general health has been covered in news reports and the landmark "Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General" (2000). Studies indicate that the bacteria that cause gum disease might aggravate other health problems, including respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, pre-term deliveries of low-birth-weight babies and diabetes. Some conditions, such as anemia and osteoporosis, have symptoms or manifestations that appear in the mouth.
Taking oral health seriously is prudent not only for its own sake, but as a way to help prevent or manage the effects of other diseases.
Regular, ongoing preventive care significantly reduces the possibility of dental emergencies for employees and their families. Working together, employers, employees, brokers and consultants can identify ways to take advantage of preventive care, treatments and diagnostics with the goal of maintaining and improving everyone's oral health.
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