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Report: Florida Children Utilize Hospital Emergency Rooms for Preventable Dental Issues At Highest Rate in Nation

A new report by CareQuest Institute for Oral Health®, a leading national nonprofit focused on creating a more accessible, equitable, and integrated oral health system, spotlights pediatric emergency department use for dental care in Florida. Researchers found that children in Florida aged 14 and younger are seeking dental care through emergency departments for non-traumatic dental conditions at one of the highest rates in the country. Use rates per 10,000 people were higher among Black (48.75) and Hispanic (22.95) children compared to white children (19.6). The most common diagnoses for these children at the time of their emergency department visit were abscesses, dental caries, stomatitis, and chronic gingivitis — conditions that are largely ...Read More

2023-07-18T16:04:01-04:00July 18, 2023|Breaking News, Top Stories|

Nearly Six Million Floridians Aren’t Smiling

Sadly, there’s little to smile about in Florida this February, which is National Children’s Dental Health Month. The state of children’s oral health in Florida is abysmal, indeed some would say in crisis. The latest data clearly demonstrates that the oral health of Florida’s children is among the worst in the nation. Even worse, because oral health is directly linked to overall physical health, there most certainly will be long term consequences for many. Because children are our future, this should be a concern to everyone. Florida Leads the Nation in Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas – Almost 6 million Floridians live in communities that do not have an adequate ...Read More

2023-02-15T09:26:38-05:00February 15, 2023|Breaking News, Top Stories|

New Coalition Forms to Solve Florida’s Oral Health Crisis

Communities across Florida are struggling with chronic dental access shortages and serious consideration is needed regarding widespread improvements. Poor oral health resulting from dental access shortages have risen to public health crisis levels. Florida leads the nation in the number of individuals living in areas designated as Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas. Sixty-six of Florida’s 67 counties have shortages of dentists. According to Betty Kabel, Director of Dental Outreach at North Florida Medical Centers, trying to find a dentist for children on Medicaid of without health insurance is challenging. "I recently saw a young boy at an elementary school who was in so much dental pain that he was crying ...Read More

2023-02-02T11:54:49-05:00February 2, 2023|Breaking News, Top Stories|