The price of keeping dental hygiene in the dental office

It's about time that the insurance companies did a number on their numbers. In the recent past a few insurance companies have dug into their decades of data and showed what dental hygienists have known for decades. Dental hygiene saves money, saves medical costs and dental hygiensts trapped under the protective patronly wing of dentistry costs billions to the health care system.

Last year The Medical Dental Integration Study was released. A study by United Health Care showed that patients' overall, total average health care costs were considerably lower for individuals with "chronic medical conditions who received periodontal treatment or cleanings within the timeframe of this study even when considering the costs of additional dental treatments. Savings for individuals receiving preventive dental care were observed across all chronic medical disease categories in this study."

I'd like to point out that these are rank n file two year degree hygiensits. They are not specially trained in any way to fit the parameters of the study. They don't have baccalaureate or masters' degrees. They are the type of hygienist you see every day.  

A lot of this information could be coming from dental offices, but the lack of attention to Electronic Health Records has put this information to a dark dank corner. Why? 

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Host: Shirley Gutkowski
Producer: Shirley Gutkowski