“They pull thousands of teeth here. At the end, they’ll have buckets of teeth...”

[jen63]

53. I'm in rural SE Ohio

A major problem that I see here is that Medicaid, at least HERE, won't pay for a crown, etc., but WILL pay for full mouth extraction and cheap dentures. I don't know the policies in other states. This is just flat wrong.

My son is the same with the deep fissures and even sported quite a few silver crowns on his baby molars. A lot has to do with education and preventative care, he had both, my mom was a "twice a year" gal and so was I, but genetics intervene sometimes. He was not raised on juice and soda. Didn't seem to have a taste for either and still doesn't. The juice thing was just totally out of hand when he was small (early to mid 90s). I wouldn't have given it to him anyway just out of protest!! He's 20 now and when we go to eat I still see him ordering "water, please", instead of soda. I wish I had his impulse control.

FWIW I hated the dentist as a kid, but love having my teeth cleaned now and still have the occasional nightmare about having my teeth pulled. The prevailing attitude here, though, amongst the poor especially, is "I can't wait to have all these damned teeth pulled". It's so sad to me that this is the only alternative. We'll have a few "free dentistry days", sponsored by local dentists, but they provide only a cleaning OR one extraction OR one filling. For most who need it, one of those things is only the tip of the iceburg if you want to keep your teeth.

Mouth and teeth/gum health are a major public health crisis, especially as the research tying it to overall body health continues to pour in.