Broader Considerations of Medical and Dental Data Integration

Dental health insurance coverage in the United States is either nonexistent (Medicare and the uninsured), spotty (Medicaid) and limited (most employer-based private benefit plans). Perhaps as a result, dental health in the United States is not good. What public policy makers may not appreciate is that this may well be impacting medical care costs in a way that improved dental benefits would produce a substantial return to investment in expanded dental insurance coverage.