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As Operations and Policy Analyst I at the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), Vesna Hopkins has the goal of helping Oregonians get better access to oral health care.“As a dental analyst, my boss says, ‘Challenge me. Give me ideas. Tell me how do you want to improve dental health for Oregonians, and let’s talk about it,’” Hopkins says. “So, I’m in a position to have the freedom to simply say, ‘It’s my educated opinion that Oregonians need help in dental here or here.’”

Oral health is often viewed in isolation, yet its impact extends far beyond the mouth. Oral health can hurt the heart. Emerging research has established a concerning link between oral health and heart issues. Gum disease, for example, can trigger cardiovascular problems and increase the risk of having a heart attack. Tooth decay and other oral infections in childhood can contribute to atherosclerosis (clogged arteries) in adulthood.

The prevalence of early childhood caries in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities is three times higher than for white children. Black and AI/AN women are 2.9 and 2.5 times more likely, respectively, to die from pregnancy-related causes than non-Hispanic white women. There is growing evidence that individuals who use electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are at a higher risk for dental caries. These are just a few key findings from three of the most popular CareQuest Institute research reports published in 2023.

Jennifer Harris, the senior health policy advocate at Alabama Arise, says no day is the same at her job. “You may have someone that’s working over here to reduce tooth decay in school-age children, and then you may have someone in another part of the state that is looking at the accessibility for someone who’s disabled to be seen by a provider,” Harris says. “What I’m doing is creating a network where we can bring all our work together to really make strides in access when it comes to oral health.”

More than 65 million people nationwide count on Medicare for their health care, including senior citizens once they turn 65 and many adults with disabilities.However, this health program doesn’t include comprehensive dental care, a gap that pushes oral health care out of reach. This gap is especially harmful for seniors who live on limited incomes, in rural communities, or who face systemic racial inequities. Simply put, it worsens their overall health and well-being.

Amanpreet Kaur first encountered the concept of health literacy — defined as the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions — as a young college graduate. Although she had never heard the term before, it instantly made sense to her.

By the numbers, OPEN’s Virtual Hill Day was a great success. There were more than 100 oral health advocates and Oral Health Progress and Equity Network (OPEN) members representing 37 states. Congressional staff from 59 Senate offices and 43 House offices also attended. They had one goal, together, of creating an oral health care system that is equitable, accessible, and affordable. But the real success, the change, came after the event in mid-September, with action from two senators just a month later.

Early on in his 23-year tenure with the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities (CTD), Executive Director Dennis Borel noticed that some of his colleagues and people he socialized with who had disabilities had problems with their oral health. “I used to see a lot of my folks with missing teeth, sometimes no teeth, broken teeth, stained, bad shape,” Borel said.

On September 15, 2022, the American Medical Association (AMA) voted to approve a new procedure code for the application of silver diamine fluoride (SDF) by medical professionals to arrest cavities. The addition of this code is a milestone in medical-dental integration and a step forward for oral health equity, providing access to this valuable treatment to millions of Americans who don’t see the dentist every year.

By Stacey Auger, MPH, policy consultant, CareQuest Institute