What stared as a lost filling becomes a massive infection for one man landing him in the emergency room, then in intensive care on a ventilator and a feeding tube! According to the American Dental Association ER visits have doubled from 1.1 million in 2000 to 2.2 million in 2012, that’s one visit every 15 seconds! The reason this seems to be an ongoing problem is because patients are not visiting there dentist as frequently as they should be. Another reason we see this happening is the lack of dental insurance. Unfortunately more than a quarter of working age adults, and one in five seniors have untreated cavities, and 19% of seniors have lost all of their teeth. Even those with dental insurance tend to wait to visit the dentist until things get really bad. Lack of visiting the dentist increases your odds of ending up in the ER with infections that can potentially be deadly. The ADA reports that there are programs that have been set up to help those without dental insurance. Various dental clinics and hospitals have programs set up to help those in need of dental care. We encourage all of you with or without dental insurance to please visit your dentist regularly to help prevent any serious dental issues before they occur. Take care of your health! Don’t delay call and schedule your appointment today!
