People with no other options for dental care are doing whatever they can to receive dental care at an increasing rate. And in many cases, that means taking a trip to the emergency room.
The most recent data from the American Dental Association shows that people looking for urgent treatment for dental problems doubled to 2.2 million during a 12-year stretch ending in 2012.
The situation doesn’t appear to be getting better any time soon, since many people can’t afford routine dental care. These people often have no other choice to receive treatment than to visit the emergency room. These issues could be avoided if the people had access to dental care.
The statistics show that the American healthcare system spends more than $1.6 billion each year treating dental patients even though emergency rooms are generally not equipped to do so. The emergency room doctors usually can only provide short-term treatment and antibiotics that can fight infection. Specialized dental treatment is necessary.
More than one third of adults don’t have dental insurance. So, other than receiving dental treatment from a dentist offering his or her service at a charity event, the emergency room seems like the best option for many people.
