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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

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Tuesday, December 18, 2012   

COLUMBUS, Ohio - For many Ohioans, the old novelty song "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" is a reminder that they have gone another year without getting dental care they need.

Kathy Mattise of Ravenna says dental insurance has never been offered at the jobs where she works, and it's too expensive to afford on her own. She's had numerous teeth pulled, and says a true gift this holiday season would be access to the dental care she needs.

"Just a simple preventive cleaning would be amazing, I need it. I need someone to at least look over my teeth, see what's left, what needs to be done. I suspect I have a few cavities but no way to find that out."

An increasing number of communities in the state are becoming federally designated "shortage" areas for dental-health professionals. Project manager of Dental Access Now David Maywhoor says there are now 73 of these areas, affecting more than 1 million people.

"The lack of access to dental providers must be taken seriously by our state. Dental care in Ohio is inaccessible and unaffordable for far too many Ohioans, creating what amounts to an oral-health crisis."

Maywhoor says the crisis can be addressed by increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates for dentists, incorporating the use of mid-level dental-health practitioners who can provide routine care and help parents teach children proper oral-health care.

Maywhoor says dental care is an often-overlooked part of health care, but poor oral health can lead to many serious health issues that can affect a person's daily life.

"It causes them to lose work, it causes children to miss school because of the pain and suffering that they are dealing with."

About 45 percent of adults in Ohio have one or more permanent teeth removed because of tooth decay or gum disease, and six percent have had all of their teeth removed. More than half of Ohio's children experience dental decay by the third grade.


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