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Historic Senate Hearing on Children's Oral Health On June 25, 2002, the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Public Health of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held its first ever hearing on children's oral health. This unprecedented hearing was titled: "The Crisis in Children's Dental Health: A Silent Epidemic." Chaired by Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Senators Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Tim Hutchinson (D-AR) also attended. Opening statements were entered into the record by two additional senators, who were unable to personally attend, Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bill Frist (R-TN). In his opening statement at the hearing, Senator Bingaman pointed out that "dental caries, which refers to both decayed teeth or filled cavities, is the most common childhood disease." He further noted that "[e]ven when children do have dental coverage, the access to care is often sorely lacking... only 18% of children eligible for Medicaid received even a single preventive dental service. The facts are complex but the primary one is due to limited dentist participation in Medicaid." In his opening statement, Senator Bingaman also indicated that ADHA's written testimony would be included in the official record of the hearing. In his statement, Senator Frist, the Senate's only physician, indicated that he was pleased that the Subcommittee was examining what he called "a critical health issue - children's dental health." He further pointed out that "[p]oor oral health directly impacts overall health. Various oral conditions may be an early warning system for other diseases, become a source of further infection, and serve as risk factors for other diseases." In her statement, Senator Collins, who has been active in oral health legislative efforts, noted that "[g]reat progress has been made in understanding and treating common oral diseases such as tooth decay and gum disease, and we now have safe and effective measures for preventing or delaying the progression of dental health problems." Senator Collins further noted that, "[t]hese advances have not occurred evenly across all sectors of our population, however, particularly among low-income individuals and families." She continued saying, "[f]ar too many Americans today do not have access to oral health services. Nowhere is this more troubling than among our nation's children." Public witnesses at the hearing were: David Satcher, MD, PhD Burton L. Edelstein, DDS, MPH Timothy Shriver, PhD D. Gregory Chadwick, DDS, MS Ed Martinez Lynn Douglas Mouden, DDS, MPH Each witness submitted a written statement for inclusion in the hearing record. Five-minute oral summaries of the written statements were presented by each witness. The three Senators present at the hearing--Bingaman, Sessions and Hutchinson--posed a variety of questions to the witnesses. Topics discussed with former Surgeon General Satcher included school-based sealant programs, fluoridation, oral health in rural areas, the lack of dental insurance and the supply of dentists. Questions posed to the other witnesses reflected significant additional interest in workforce issues, specifically with respect to the supply of dentists. Also mentioned--in response to Tim Shriver's comments--was a suggestion that dental and dental hygiene students receive training in providing oral health care for persons with mental retardation. This hearing was an important opportunity
to raise the visibility of oral health and to educate members of the Senate
Health Committee on oral health issues. Importantly, in addition to submitting
a statement for the official record, working with Senator Bingaman's staff
in advance of the hearing, and attending the hearing, ADHA wrote to each
member of the Senate Health Committee after the hearing, thanking Committee
members for this landmark hearing and urging swift markup and approval
of S. 1626, the "Children's Dental Health Improvement Act." |
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