Americans Forced to Visit ER for Dental Treatment
A growing number of Americans are being forced to visit the Emergency Department for dental treatment as a result of being unable to afford regular dental care.
According to statistics from the Pew Center on the States, the numbers of ER visits increased by 16 percent between 2006 and 2009 and figures recorded since have indicated that trend is continuing.
In most cases, emergency dental visits are caused by extreme toothache, which could have been avoided by regular dental check-ups. However, a growing number of people are struggling to afford check-ups on a regular basis.
Dental care provided at hospitals is up to ten times more expensive than routine and preventative care provided by dentists and the increased number of ER visits is also increasing pressure on emergency department staff and resources.
In Florida, there were more than 115,000 dental ER visits in 2010 alone, costing a massive sum of $88 million. This number includes more than 40,000 Medicaid patients, representing a 40 percent increase.
Medicaid patients have found it increasingly difficult to access affordable care, as many dentists have stopped accepting Medicaid patients as a result of poor reimbursement rates and administerial problems.
Another problem associated with the increase of ER dental visits is that staff are not trained dentists and can only provide pain relief and medication for infections. As a result of this, many of the patients who visit the ER for treatment end up going back because their condition has not been treated effectively.
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