[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1985-1986]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                NATIONAL CHILDREN'S DENTAL HEALTH MONTH

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize February as 
National Children's Dental Health Month. Every year since 1981 we have 
acknowledged the importance of children's dental health and worked to 
ensure that all children have access to proper oral health. As former 
U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop reminded us, ``There is no health 
without oral health.''
  Today tooth decay is the single most common chronic childhood 
disease--5 times more common than asthma, 4 times more common than 
early childhood obesity, and 20 times more common than diabetes. 
Despite the fact that tooth decay can be prevented, nearly half of all 
5-year-olds have experienced tooth decay.
  Left untreated, tooth decay can not only destroy a child's teeth and 
health but also have a severe negative impact on a child's quality of 
life. Because children with severe tooth decay are frequently in 
constant pain, they are often unable to learn, play, or interact with 
others. Recent studies have shown that children with poor oral health 
are nearly three times more likely to miss school due to dental pain, 
and children reporting recent toothaches are four times more likely to 
have lower grade point averages than peers without dental pain.
  Good oral health is essential for our children to thrive. It is 
simply unacceptable that 16.5 million children are denied basic dental 
care each year. The health and well-being of every child depends on 
access to affordable care for all of his or her health needs, including 
dental services.
  Tooth decay and oral health problems also disproportionately affect 
children from low-income families and minorities. According to the 
National Institutes of Health, about 80 percent of dental disease in 
children is concentrated in 25 percent of the population, and children 
from poor families face an inordinately high barrier in receiving 
dental care. To these children, the consequences of poor health care 
can be devastating.
  Many have heard me speak before, including on the floor of the 
Senate, about the tragic loss of Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old Prince 
George's County resident who died in February of 2007. Deamonte's death 
was particularly traumatic because it was entirely preventable. It is 
outrageous that only a few years ago a young boy died in our country 
because his family was unable to find a dentist to remove an infected 
tooth. By the time he was evaluated at the Children's Hospital 
emergency room, the infection had spread to Deamonte's brain. After 
multiple surgeries and a lengthy hospital stay, he passed away.
  This was a tragic loss of life that was completely preventable, and a 
waste of terrible resources. A person's life, hundreds of thousands of 
dollars, and all it took was $80 in dental care to save his life.
  I recently heard another story that gives me both hope in the future 
and strength and resolve to guarantee that all Americans have access to 
proper dental care. Ronald shared his story at the 2-day Mission of 
Mercy Health Equity Festival at the University of Maryland, where he 
waited 15 hours at the charity clinic to have a tooth pulled that had 
been troubling him for 2 years. Prior to the charity clinic, Ronald had 
been living with two choices: endure increasingly worse pain or go into 
debt to pay for dental care. A working man, Ronald had spent $800--his 
entire life savings--to get a tooth fixed in 2012, but it continued to 
bother him. He recently paid a dentist for relief. The dentist 
suggested a more expensive procedure, but Ronald was unable to pay the 
high cost. So it was just a bandaid, he said. Now he is behind with his 
landlord and trying to catch up.
  Ronald talked, however, with great pride about his 9-year-old soccer-
playing daughter, who waves away candy and drinks water instead of 
soda. ``I didn't know about oral health when I was her age,'' he said. 
Like many other children in Maryland, Ronald's daughter has access to 
dental care through our State's Children's Health Insurance Program. 
She has coverage for pediatric dental, she learns about oral health in 
her school, and she is taking steps to make sure she has proper oral 
health. She has coverage if she needs to see a dentist.
  Thanks to CHIP, we now have the highest number in history of children 
who are insured with medical and dental insurance. CHIP provides 
affordable, comprehensive health coverage to more than 8 million 
children from working families--people who earn too much to qualify for 
Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance. CHIP also provides 
funding for school-based health centers that are critical to providing 
dental services to at-risk children. I have visited these schools and 
have seen firsthand how effective they are in delivering dental care to 
our children. However, if Congress does not act to reauthorize funding 
for CHIP before September 30, the program's funding will run out and 
millions of children will again be at risk.
  I am very proud that my State of Maryland has been recognized as a 
national leader in pediatric dental health. In the 2010 Pew Center 
report on the state of children's dental health,

[[Page 1986]]

Maryland earned an A and was the only State to meet seven of the eight 
policy benchmarks for addressing children's dental health needs.
  In addition, in the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, every plan 
except one includes pediatric dental coverage as part of the 
comprehensive medical plan, so families don't have to pay a separate 
premium for pediatric dental coverage and they don't have an additional 
out-of-pocket cost.
  In the Affordable Care Act, we included pediatric dental as part of 
the essential benefits; therefore, every family now has access to 
affordable pediatric coverage. That is primarily offered to most of the 
people in our State through a universal policy, meaning that they don't 
have to pay a separate premium or copayment.
  Dental diseases are chronic, progressive, and destructive over time. 
Yet too often oral health care is overlooked or ignored. We have made 
great progress, but there are still millions of children in our country 
without dental care. We must continue to work to ensure that all 
Americans have access to both medical and dental care, as no citizen of 
our country should ever have to choose between going into debt and 
receiving proper health care.
  The health care system was not there for Ronald, but thanks to CHIP 
and the Affordable Care Act, it has the potential to help his daughter 
stay healthy for years to come.
  Let's pledge to do more for our children, starting with a 
reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program--CHIP--
including the guaranteed pediatric dental benefits.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


  

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