It’s a typical day at Valley Pediatric Dental. Dr. Cody Hughes has a scared 5-year-old in the dentist chair.
Hughes turns on the television and puts on the cartoons and proceeds to explain what procedure he is going to do on the young child. The child calms down and lets Hughes do his job.
“When I see the smile on that kid’s face, it puts a smile on my face,” Hughes said.
But it’s not all smiles everywhere in the state. Oral Health Nevada, Inc., an independent, statewide organization that aims to advance oral health care in the state, gave Nevada an “F” grade for children’s dental health this year. Bad oral health can be linked to heart disease, according to Harvard Health Publications.
“In Mesquite, I think there’s a lot of people who are not super well off, and sometimes the choice comes down to buying groceries or taking the kids to the dentist,” said Dr. Paul Harmer of Falcon Ridge Dental. “So what it comes down to is if the kids aren’t in pain, they don’t go.”
Harmer said one common reason people have bad oral health is because they don’t have insurance and avoid regular checkups.
Not having that insurance causes many to put off going to the dentist until they’re in pain, and that’s when the dental bills start adding up.
He said he often sees patients who started with a small cavity, which is a simple, routine fix, but the patient puts off coming in for an appointment until it becomes a painful and expensive problem.
“People who come in every six months pay a lot less in the long run,” Harmer said. “People who come in every three years, they pay the most, and they have the most trouble.”
The complication of dental insurance doesn't help, either.
“There is fine print that you miss,” says Harmer’s office manager, Jenese Olson. “There’s always fine print. A lot of people just don’t understand insurance. People need to be educated about how it works. Insurance companies are really slick at what they do.”
Many dental offices, though, offer a plan or a discount. For example, at Falcon Ridge, patients can pay for two checkups and receive a 15 percent discount on any other procedures during the year.
But, in many cases, the ones struggling with oral health are the ones who are least worried about a dental health plan. According to a study done by the National Institute of Dental Research, 80 percent of adolescent oral health problems in the nation occur in just 25 percent of the nation’s adolescent population.
“There’s a general lack of understanding where certain groups don’t place a lot emphasis on baby teeth,” said Hughes. “They don’t brush. They don’t worry about the effects of a poor diet on teeth.”
Catching problems early is crucial. The recommended age for children to have their first checkup is age 1, but many put it off until the child reaches school age.
It comes down to a lack of understanding. Hughes is a public policy advocate for the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and also sits on the Legislative Committee for the Nevada Dental Association.
This year, Gov. Brian Sandoval budgeted for a dental director who will begin advocating for oral health in Nevada starting in 2017.
“Most of the things that have an impact have to happen at the state level,” Hughes said. “If you don’t have a key person that can get the right information to the right people, it makes it difficult.”
But Hughes isn’t only thinking about the big picture. As a local of Mesquite, he feels he can make an impact on the smaller community.
“That is part of our ongoing mission that we have,” Hughes said. “I’m a little more optimistic about what I can do for Mesquite.”
Harmer also hopes to inform and help the community improve its dental health care. Every year, Harmer takes a team on a humanitarian trip. He’s visited Nicaragua and Mexico to volunteer free dental care in past years.
But, this year, he and Olson decided there was enough need in Mesquite to hold a free dental day four times — two days focusing on children, one for veterans and one for anyone in need of care who cannot afford it.
He and a team will offer a free checkup, cleaning, and either a filling or extraction for whatever tooth is causing pain.
In the meantime, Harmer has one piece of advice to improve individual oral health: Nothing beats brushing.
“All you really need is a $2 toothbrush and FDA approved toothpaste and two minutes morning and night,” Harmer said. “It doesn’t take much to clean a tooth.”
Hughes hopes dental healthcare will become more of a priority in people’s lives, especially because it doesn’t take much time every day to maintain a clean mouth.
“When it comes to oral health in Nevada, the biggest thing people can do is make it important in their own life,” he said. “When opportunities arrive, speak up and tell people why it’s a priority. Simply doing that can make a big impact.”
Source: http://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2015/11/23/mesquite-dentists-offer-solutions-nevadas-oral-health-problems/76274076/
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