Dental benefits can prevent major — and costly — health problems

by Amanda Abrom

Dental benefits can increase employee satisfaction and loyalty, but how much do they actually impact employees’ overall health? A lot, at least according to a recent study in the Health Affairs Journal.

The study found that individuals without dental benefits take more trips to the emergency room (ER) for dental problems. And insured individuals have a smaller chance of ER visits.

How was the study done?

Researchers analyzed what would happen if they removed adult dental benefits from California’s Medicaid program. They made two conclusions:

• Without dental benefits, emergency room visits for dental problems would increase by 33%, which adds up to around 1,800 visits a year, and
• The cost of emergency room visits for dental problems would increase by 68%.

And the researchers only removed Medicaid. So chances are these numbers would be even higher with no private dental insurers in the picture.

These findings are troubling for a number of reasons. On top of the high cost of emergent care, ER’s aren’t staffed with actual dentists, all patients usually get in terms of care is painkillers and medicine for infected gums.

This approach leads to long-term problems and recurring ER visits.

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