In an article entitled, “Boom Time for Dentists, But Not for Dental Care,” the New York Times journalist Alex Berenson gives a horribly inaccurate and biased view of the current access to care problem our country faces. Given he is a journalist, and journalists like attention and controversy, I suppose this makes sense. For those Americans who might not know any better and actually believe what he says, however, AGD member dentists have been replying via blog and letters, some of them later published in the Times itself. Last week, our AGD president sent this letter in response–very well written indeed.
Dear Editor,
On behalf of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), I am writing to express my great disappointment about the biased advice Alex Berenson provides in his article, ?Boom Times for Dentists, But Not for Teeth.? Your readers deserve to read editorially accurate, truthful and objective information. The article breaks the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics, by not providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues and by not testing the accuracy of information from all sources.
This article misleads the public and does nothing to help your readers understand what is at the root of access to care problems in this country. As an organization that places the health of our patients, first and foremost, we are also dismayed that your article appears to be more concerned with the creation of ?mid-level? providers than with advancing the health of our nation?s dental patients.
Do your readers know that dentists are taking America?s access to care problem into their own hands? AGD dentists have reached out to their communities for years, in some instances setting up free health clinics in our communities for those that may make too much money to receive federal help and not enough to afford insurance. Usually, all of the dental care is free, and the clinics provide thousands of dollars worth of free dentistry to hard-working individuals.
The AGD has fostered a relationship with Donated Dental Services (DDS). Do your readers know that DDS dentists have provided more than $116 million in comprehensive pro bono oral health therapies for more than 77,000 needy, disabled, or elderly and medically compromised individuals? In addition to providing much needed dental treatment, AGD dentists participate in this invaluable service because it ?feeds the soul.? I have been personally active in recruiting volunteers, throughout the country, for this outstanding program.
America should be disappointed with its leadership, not with the thousands of dentists who are working every day to provide free care to needy patients. Do your readers know that the decision by President Bush to veto the State Children?s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) reauthorization bill on October 3 has denied uninsured children an opportunity for dental care? Both the AGD and the American Dental Association support the SCHIP reauthorization bill. The inclusion of guaranteed dental coverage in the final SCHIP bill would have ensured that millions of children would receive essential oral health care. Approximately 23 million children are without dental care insurance in the United States.
This same government that chastises dentists for not solving the access to care problem continually reduces funding for Medicaid and dental general practice residency programs which are mostly located in low income, underprivileged areas. Our government gives disadvantaged people the impression that there is a health service available for them, knowing that there are little or no funds available for such services. Then, the government lays the blame for the consequential lack of service at the doorstep of a group of dedicated professionals. This is a heartless and irresponsible thing to do.
You rarely hear a journalist bestowing accolades for the billions of dollars of free dental care that have been provided to needy patients through DDS and many other dental charitable initiatives. However, we cannot base an entire healthcare system on charity.
Even the mid-level provider, proposed by Mr. Berenson, would not be able to sustain themselves if there are no funds for the healthcare program that they would be involved in.Dentists today are in tune with the overall medical condition and total well-being of their patients. Every day, dentists save lives when they discover pre-cancerous or cancerous lesions and refer the affected patients to an oral surgeon. Every day, dentists help to prevent cardiovascular problems when they perform routine blood pressure evaluations and find patients with hypertension and refer them immediately to their physicians. The mouth is the ?gateway? to the body. Consequently, very often, the first sign of a systemic disease occurs in the mouth.
Organized dentistry and its members are working together to find answers to the access to care problem. However, America?s leadership ignores requests to allocate more government funds toward these solutions while media outlets spread mistruths and mislead the public to falsely point their fingers.
Dentists who are in general practice are the primary oral health care providers for patients of all ages. They rely on a variety of resources, including your publication, to help them stay up-to-date in the profession and provide accurate information to patients. We expect that, in the future, the editorial team at your publication will return to its previous commitment to present its audience with non-biased articles, based only on facts. Please contact me at xxx.xxx.xxxx or xxxx@xxxx.com if you would like to hear our side of the story.
Sincerely,
Vincent C. Mayher, DMD, MAGD
AGD President, 2007-2008
An active participant in programs like Dentists With a Heart myself, I attest to the personal “giving” most dentists do via outreach on a regular basis. As dental professionals, we do well, but being active in charity, we do great!
Image shamelessly borrowed from the self-titled web site
