skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Judge pauses deadline for federal workers to accept Trump's resignation offer; CA state lawmakers take action to enact safeguards against federal immigration enforcement; Study shows air quality disparities from industrial ag in NC.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Attorney General Pam Bondi strikes a Trump tone at the Justice Department, federal workers get more time to consider buyouts, and an unclassified email request from the White House worries CIA vets.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

During Black History Month, a new book shares how a unique partnership built 5,000 schools for Black students, anti-hunger advocates say ag communities would benefit from an expanded SNAP program, and Americans have $90 billion in unpaid medical bills.

Report: High Rates of Emergency Rooms for Nontraumatic Dental Conditions

play audio
Play

Monday, July 24, 2023   

A new report showed children aged 14 and younger are seeking dental care through emergency departments at alarming rates for preventable conditions such as abscesses and chronic gingivitis.

The CareQuest Institute for Oral Health report showed high costs and limited dental coverage contribute to the problem of high rates of pediatric emergency department use for dental care in Florida. Cultural and linguistic issues are also part of the problem, and the report found the use rate is higher among Black and Hispanic children.

Looking at use rates per 10,000 people, 48.75 % are Black children, and 22.95 % are Hispanic children, compared with 19.6 % for white children.

Dr. Brandon R. Allen, associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Florida and vice chair of clinical operations in the department of emergency medicine at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, recommended a proactive approach.

"These visits are preventable," Allen contended. "With really good oral hygiene, a focus on the basics in regards to nutrition as well as brushing teeth, rinsing mouths, flossing and being preventive and proactive."

Allen noted the need for access to preventive dental care, especially in rural areas, is crucial to address the oral health crisis in Florida. He also pointed to a need for collaborative efforts and data sharing between medical and dental health care systems to improve oral health equity and dental access in the state.

Children's advocates said they will continue to urge state lawmakers in the fall to do more to solve access issues and ensure more preventive dental care to children in schools.

Allen emphasized while some may view the emergency room as a quick solution, it is important to recognize emergency room doctors are not dentists. The level of care they can provide may involve referring patients to a dentist for proper and definitive treatment of their dental issues.

"We assess for emergent conditions and try to manage the best we can with what we have with a working diagnosis," Allen explained. "But we don't do tooth extractions, we don't do high complexity abscess drainage in these patients and so your visit may incur a wait to be seen as a potential lower acuity patient."

According to America's Children Campaign Florida hospitals billed nearly $550 million for treating nontraumatic dental conditions in 2021 alone.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, Mississippi has the highest rates of food insecurity in the nation. (Katerina Holmes/Pexels)

Social Issues

play sound

Mississippi families struggling with food insecurity are bracing for another difficult summer after state officials declined millions in federal fundi…


Environment

play sound

Some experts predict arable land per person will shrink by two-thirds by 2050. To combat it, Michigan students are being trained in "smart" …

Environment

play sound

A new study by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality found nitrate levels have continued to rise across the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater …


Currently, insurance companies get to decide how much of a public ambulance service's rate to pay, which can lead to patients being charged the unpaid balance. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado lawmakers are working to ensure all Coloradans with health coverage for ambulance services are not hit with surprise bills or charged higher …

Environment

play sound

Conservation groups in Maine are calling on the state's congressional delegation to protect federal funding for clean energy technologies. A new …

Osprey, bluefish, red drum and cobia rely on menhaden populations for food. (Adobe Stock)

play sound

Atlantic menhaden weigh less than a pound and measure little more than a foot long but the small fish has big consequences for the Chesapeake Bay ecos…

Social Issues

play sound

Gov. Kay Ivey delivered her 2025 State of the State address this week, focusing on education, public safety, and economic growth in Alabama. She …

Social Issues

play sound

In rural states such as South and North Dakota and large urban centers around the U.S., protests were held Wednesday amid fears about the first wave …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021