Oral health impacts physical health and a community’s wealth

by Marc B. Hahn, DO

President, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences

Most Americans take trips to the dentist for granted. They have many options close to home. But that’s not the case for nearly 15 percent of Americans today – and by 2025, it could be a problem for every American.

More than 46 million people live in “dental deserts” – areas of the country with no dentists, or where a trip for an exam can take a half hour or much longer, assuming they have access to transportation.

If there are no changes to address access to dental care in the next two years, the consequences will impact not only those dental deserts, but could very likely affect communities in all 50 states. Families across the country will be left with an oral health care system in which demand for dentists greatly outstrips the supply.

Consider this perfect storm – the U.S. currently needs 7,000 more dentists to fill the shortages in dental deserts alone. To make matters worse, many practicing dentists are reaching retirement age and there are far fewer dental students in the pipeline to replace them. In fact, it will take another 8,600 new dentists to maintain an adequate national supply.

In 2023, just 6,832 students graduated from the country’s dental schools.

The Lack of Dental Care Options Affects Everyone

The lack of adequate available dental care leads to higher health care costs, higher unemployment, and a greater overall strain on the public safety net, and that can impact every American’s quality of life.

Consider these critical facts:

Lack of dental care can tax an already overworked health care system.

Poor oral health contributes to systemic diseases like endocarditis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, dementia, and some types of cancer[v]. It can also contribute to pneumonia, other diseases, and lead to complications in pregnancy.

Poor dental health can impact one’s ability to get hired which can burden the welfare system and lead to homelessness. A report by the American Dental Association, estimated that 35 percent of low-income adults feel embarrassed over the condition of their teeth. And 29 percent of low-income adults and 28 percent of young adults feel like the appearance of their mouth and teeth affect their ability to interview for a job. To make matters worse, a report by CNBC found that most employers “make instant judgments based on appearance, including someone’s smile and teeth.” And one study found that “people with missing front teeth were viewed as less intelligent, less desirable, and less trustworthy than people with a healthy smile.”

Lack of dental care hinders one’s ability to maintain a proper diet and sustain overall health. If you can’t chew your food properly due to pain or tooth loss, it is more challenging to maintain good nutrition. Conversely, poor nutrition can increase a person’s risk of poor oral health. The inability to consume nutritional foods which may protect against some types of cancers, heart disease, and other diseases will eventually lead to a greater need for heightened levels of medical intervention.

Kansas City University (KCU) Has Become Part of the Solution

An important part of the answer to the growing shortage of dental care is to recruit the next generation of dentists; and to educate them where they are needed.

The oral health crisis is especially dire in the four-state region surrounding our Kansas City University campus in Joplin, an area that covers Southeast Kansas, Southwest Missouri, Northwest Arkansas, and Northeast Oklahoma. In Missouri alone, there is a shortage of over 700 dentists.

In July, Kansas City University will welcome its inaugural class of dental students to the new state-of-the-art College of Dental Medicine dental on our Joplin campus.

In fact, this first class of 80 students represent a broad range of ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Nearly half of the class comes from our four-state region and many of these dental students aspire to establish practices in the region. Among the inaugural class, nearly 60 percent come from rural communities, and additionally, under-represented minorities make up 25 percent of the student body.

We Can All Do More

While dental schools, especially those placed in areas of greatest need, play an important role in addressing the lack of oral health care access, in our region and in the nation, more action is needed.

All Americans, not just our elected officials, must recognize the need for increasing and maintaining our pool of dentists across the country, and support better oral health care through investments in community-based dental schools with a clear focus to address regional disparities. Local, state, and federal governments working alongside communities and philanthropic agencies must incentivize dental students to practice in the underserved parts of all 50 states. Society must recognize that oral health directly impacts general physical health, which in turn impacts the productivity of our citizens. Direct and indirect support of projects like Kansas City University’s College of Dental Medicine result in the improved health of communities and thereby improve the wealth of communities.