AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
2004 FEB 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Kentucky's woeful dental health leads to greater overall health problems, especially among the state's poorest residents, dentists say.
New federal statistics show that more than 42% of Kentuckians 65 and older have lost all their permanent teeth. That's about 213,000 people.
"The underlying reality is that Kentucky's population, particularly the poor part of its population, is really ill," said James Cecil, a University of Kentucky dentistry professor who serves as administrator of oral health for the state's Health Services Cabinet.
A November 2003 report by the group Kentucky Youth Advocates showed that two-thirds of Kentucky children eligible for dental services for the poor didn't receive them.
Cecil and other experts told The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, that poor oral health is hurting Kentucky economically just as much as heart disease, obesity, or diabetes.