1 von 3 jungen Erwachsenen überspringen den Zahnarzt und stellt junge Erwachsene ein höheres Risiko für zukünftige Gesundheitsprobleme aus. Die Zahnpflege in den Vereinigten Staaten ist nach wie vor vom Krankenversicherungsschutz für Krankenversicherungen ausgeschlossen und wird normalerweise nicht in Initiativen zur öffentlichen Gesundheit integriert, die die vorbeugende Versorgung fördern.
https://now.tufts.edu/2025/09/18/one-three-young-adults-skip-dentist-and-thats-problem
14 Kommentare
I’ve linked to the press release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oral-health/articles/10.3389/froh.2025.1619983/full
From the linked article:
**One in Three Young Adults Skip the Dentist**, and That’s a Problem
A new study reveals how barriers to oral health differ across generations, **putting young adults at greater risk for future health problems**
Regular dental checkups are vital for overall health. Yet **dental care in the United States is still excluded from medical health insurance coverage and usually not integrated with public health initiatives that promote preventative care**. A new study from a researcher at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine found that nearly one in three young adults skipped visits to the dentist in the past year—and pointed to wider health and access problems that could affect the nation’s future workforce and health systems.
Published recently in Frontiers in Oral Health, the study is the first to compare people’s social and economic circumstances, access to dental care, and self-reported health challenges across different ages. The study builds on past research about cost and access barriers to dental care, but it provides new insights by showing that young adults are especially likely to miss out on care—and that factors like mental health and housing problems also play a role.
My government dental care covers 2 grand a year and I still pay hundreds. I typically blow through it in the first month or two and then put everything off until the next visit, and in the time that passes, everything of course gets worse and I have to blow through it all again.
Maintenance is important but if you can’t afford it then you wind up just playing catch-up the whole rest of your life. Especially when some things STILL aren’t covered even with insurance.
Doesn’t help that in the U.S., dental insurance is basically a coupon. If you have anything major, you’ll hit your limit and be paying out of pocket for most of the procedure.
It’s insane really. That somehow the government was convinced that eyes and mouth just don’t count as part of your body and you need a separate plan. And all we’re doing it finding out how the more we neglect the more harm we do to other parts of our body.
This is primarily a problem with the cost of dentists.
I didn’t go to the dentist for many years simply because I couldnt afford it at all, even a basic cleaning was crazy expensive. I finally got dental care while traveling in other countries – way cheaper!
U.S. health standards is subpar. U.S. believe health is reactionary instead of proactive. Pay for years of bad teeth instead of fluoride, tons of funds for treating tetanus instead of a tetanus shot, and go kick rocks if your mental health is tied to the fact of how you smile(yes your mental health is affected by you feeling confident smiling)
Damn Luxury Bones in my mouth
Skip is a strong word for „cannot afford“.
America prefers to wait until it’s causing infections and develops plaques throughout the body that turn into strokes and heart attacks. Then the system has to pay for very expensive treatments instead of the far lower dental cost.
I hate to break it to the researchers, but ALL ages are skipping dental visits or self limiting care. The cost of dental work to a fixed income senor means you „might“ get one problem fixed per year and as your older, you have lots more problems than one per year and they only get worse.
I get $400 a quarter from my Advantage Medicare+ insurance. To cover *any* dental needs. I have two painful, abscessed, fractured teeth and I’m struggling to figure out what necessity I can give up this next year to afford to have them pulled. Not fixed, not implanted, not even bridged. Just yank them out and give up.
Hard to afford the old luxury bones – when they’re not coveted by standard insurance!
Why do we treat eyes and teeth as a separate thing? Is it just because the education for those body parts is so different?
We quite literally put $450 in our HSA every month, with the anticipation that we’ll be paying $2000/year out of pocket for dental stuff. Last 4 years: biteguard ($900); crown ($1500); gum grafting surgery ($2700); another biteguard ($800)
(Yes I’ve tried to find a cheaper option for my biteguards… every other option sucks and ends up needing to be replaced so quickly, I’d rather pay for a legit biteguard. I have very expensive post-orthodontic teeth, so it’s not worth cheaping out on this)