United Concordia and Highmark funded a study led by Dr. Marjorie Jeffcoat of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine that shows how dental and medical insurance industries can come together to have an impact on both cost and health. This study is a largest of its kind, conducted using a base of 1.6 million people and including information for three years. It is the most statistically conclusive study proving the relationship between oral health and medical cost savings.
An analysis of insurance records over a 3 year period showed significant reductions in both medical costs and hospitalizations for patients who received periodontal care. “[T]hat simple non-invasive periodontal therapy can improve health outcomes in pregnancies and other systemic conditions.”[1] With respect to diabetics, the mean number of visits that patients went to see their physicians was half the number of physicians’ visits of those who did not have periodontal treatment.
Periodontal disease is an infection. It has to do with the inflammation. It has to do with infection and getting it under control. Periodontal gum diseases are preventable and are treatable at a much lower cost than hospitalization and health care for more global diseases and infections.
About 30 percent of the nation’s healthcare dollars are spent on hospital care, about 22 percent on physician and clinical services, and about 11 percent on prescription drugs. Dentistry on the other hand accounts for only about 4 percent of the national healthcare spending. So if you – if we can get in and improve the spending in the dental, that’s going to affect the three other largest segments of the healthcare spending. If we can be of service with your oral health care please give us a call for your complimentary assessment.
Novy Scheinfeld, DDS, PC
290 Carpenter Drive, 200A
Atlanta, GA 30328
404-256-3620
[1] Marjorie Jeffcoat, DMD, Professor of Periodontics and Dean Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania.
